The Brockovich Report

I want to clarify a few things. To those of you who say I am endorsing Palin...

Where does it say that I endorse Sarah Palin?

Nowhere.

At no point in the September 8th blog did I say I endorse Palin. I said she is a strong women.

What is wrong with that?

Nothing.

If you pay attention to the words, you would see that the blog says nothing about endorsements. This isn't political. The blog says, "Whether or not we stand on the same side of the fence, she gives off the aura of being a strong woman...."

Let's face it. No matter what people read, sometimes they only hear what they want to hear.

Let's give Sarah Palin credit for what she has done to date in a hard and difficult world: Raising kids. Being a mayor. Being a governor. I admire that when she didn't like how things were getting done in Alaska, instead of griping, she did something about it. She had the courage to run for office. Good for her or anyone else that can do it.

I don't agree with everything Palin says. I don't agree with everything anyone says. I think for myself. Guess what? I think that Hillary Clinton is a strong woman too. To paraphrase something Maya Angelo once said, "I admire Hillary on the basis of her having the authority to be herself, a mother, and a politician. When a woman stands up for herself, she stands for all women."

We can all choose for whom we vote. We choose what we think and what we do. That is the beauty of America. The freedom of choice.

For those of you who disagree with me, I respect your right to your opinion. Just don't misquote me, or quote me out of context to make what you want out of what I said.

I don't agree with everything Sarah Palin does. I don't agree with everything
corporate America does. I don't agree with all candidates on all issues. I don't always agree with my husband or kids or friends but that doesn't mean that I don't give them credit where credit is due.

Just because someone is a Republican, Democrat or Independent doesn't mean
that I do or don't, will or won't look at their positives and their negatives. I make up my mind after I see and hear everything the candidates have to say.

Besides, how many times have we voted someone into office and they turned out to be different from what they promised?

As long as we're talking about endorsements, I am endorsing a local Senate candidate named Tony Strickland.

Tony Strickland is a friend of mine and a Republican. He is also for green energy and would make a great Senator.

The idea that we can't cross party lines is ridiculous.

I could sit here and say I am Republican, I live in this box. I could sit here and say I am a Democrat, I live in that box. I could refuse to extend my hand across the aisle for a common goal and cause. Then I could sit side by side--or back to back--with my fellow Americans, forever at a stalemate. Nothing would ever get done.

But I don't live in a box. I want what I think we all want--which is to help people over all.

Rather than only being one sided and part of the problem and getting nothing done, let's work to be a part of a solution. Let's reach our hands across the aisle to help negotiate so we can get to work and get this country moving again.

I was born and raised in a Republican family in Kansas. My father worked for industry and the government. He is a mechanical engineer. He is the very person who taught me the value of our land, air, water, health. And that the greatest gift we have is our family. Funny, he is a Republican yet taught me very fundamental Democratic ideals.

As an adult I have been a registered Republican and a registered Democrat.

Neither party has a patent on caring.

Neither party has a patent of caring for the environment, health or anything else. These are not partisan issues; these are Humanist issues. You will never convince me that just because someone is a Republican that they don't care about the environment or that their kids could be poisoned by environmental pollutants. You will never convince me that just because someone is a Democrat, that they don't care about money or the economy. We all care about the environment and our kids, and money and the economy.

I wish there were a "Humanist" party because that IS the party that I would join.

A recent blog post touched on a topic which gets me all worked up.

"America is in love--again. Remember how we loved Vivian Ward, the pretty woman in Pretty Woman? And who could forget Maggie Carpenter, the runaway bride in Runaway Bride? Or Tess Ocean, the twelfth ocean in Ocean's Twelve? But then there's my personal favorite: Erin Brockovich, who was Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich." Read the full post...

People keep confusing Julia/Erin. That's the first time I've ever seen "Erin who was Erin in Erin..." Excuse me, but there IS an actress in there somewhere. Doesn't an actor have to play a character for 30 years (like Captain Kangaroo) to become such an icon that they become their character?

And--Excuse me!--I'm not fiction. I exist. Julia can't be me because I am me.

"America is in love--again. Remember how we loved.....But then there's my personal favorite: Erin Brockovich, who was Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich." What is that sentence even supposed to mean?

I had to look up all of those roles...

Vivian Ward, (Pretty Woman)
Maggie Carpenter, (Runaway Bride)
Tess Ocean, (Ocean's Twelve)
Erin Brockovich, (Erin Brockovich)

... to figure out that ALL of them are Julia Roberts.

Maybe they can do a movie about Julia Roberts's life and I can play Julia. Then someone can write an erroneous blog ostensibly about me, that says "Julia Roberts, who was Julia Roberts in Julia Roberts."

That would really confuse them.

When it comes to politics, I'm not about attacking someone because they are on a Republican ticket or a Democratic ticket. Let’s look at the person, their ideas and what they might represent for us humans. After seeing Sarah Palin's acceptance speech, I came away with several thoughts, one of them that it looks like Palin-speak is going to mean plain-speaking.

Plain speaking is a good thing.

What am I leading up to?

Sarah Palin is being compared to me. I've got four of the quotes right here:

Like this quote:

"Palin is a cross between two archetypes, frontier woman Annie Oakley and muckraker Erin Brockovich. A reformer in a state of cunning politicians, she made her name quitting the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission in outrage over backroom deals and parlayed that into running against a hugely unpopular governor, Frank Murkowski."
Read the complete Bloomberg News article...

and this:

SARAH PALIN IS THE ERIN BROCKOVICH OF ALASKA
Read the complete The Astute Bloggers post...

and this:

Awesome: one part Reagan, one part Erin Brockovich, one part Annie Oakley, one part hockey mom. One part mother of a child with special needs-and soon to be a grandma.
Read the complete The Astute Bloggers post...

Of course, not all of the comparisons are so flattering. This last one one equates Sarah with me (in a negative way) and all the Democrats as Stepford Wives.
Read the complete Abbey-Roads post...

Okay, I know she sniped at Obama a little bit, but she did it with an admirable, graceful semi-scary pit-bull/hockey-mom tenacity that is as natural as breathing; and she stood up to all the media pressure without a semi-casual hair out of place. It doesn't matter whether you are Republican or Democrat, or Independent... (which is about the way I am ready to turn because both parties are acting foolish and judgmental and attacking.) Some of the comments about Sarah Palin have been unfair and I don’t say that because blogs say she is “Sarah Brockovich” or "half Ronald Reagan half Erin Brockovich” or “The Erin Brockovich of Alaska.”

More importantly, beaming with pride, she unapologetically brought out her entire family, including her expecting teenage daughter. (And in the history of the presidency, Republican OR Democrat, I don't think there's been a candidate who had the gonads to do that. ) She was so proud of them it was coming off of her in waves--and rightly so. Frankly, I didn't see a waiver or a weak spine in the whole crew. That's an impressive show of family solidarity. I feel certain the best candidates for office never ran because they kept their secrets in their closets. Sarah Palin seems like her closets are all opened up, and she's right out there saying "Here I am. Let's get to work."

How can you not admire what she has done, and appreciate the position she is in? Sure, she may be loud. So am I. Sometimes you've got to scream to get anyone to hear you. So what if her 17 year old is pregnant? Even though I'm proud she didn't stick her in a closet to hide her away, I realize that girl has got to have true grit to be standing out in front of the spiteful media like that. It’s no one’s business. It happens to young girls all over the WORLD. In history, girls use to have babies much earlier.

None of us should judge Sarah Palin for anything but her own actions. We do our best to raise our kids and when they grow up they develop their OWN minds and their own life and their own way of thinking and I am certainly in favor of that.

Sarah Palin is running a State--and mighty well I should add. She has a successful marriage, 5 kids, which HELLO, is a BIG, BIG, JOB! She takes care of herself, she speaks her mind and her heart. Her son is in the War. I would be scared to death if my son were over there.

I think it is a simple thing really. The fact is that Sarah Palin positively emanates strength. Whether or not we stand on the same side of the fence, she gives off the aura of being a strong woman who doesn't back down, and she does it sporting heels and wearing her family like a badge of well-deserved honor. I am sure there are a million other women out there who are doing the same thing.

And the truth is I am proud to be a member of the same Strong Woman's Club that Sarah Palin is in.

There are so many irons in the fire this week that I hardly know where to start. But I'll start with the last thing I was talking about before...Gardasil. Gardasil has been associated now with grand mal seizures, paralysis, coma, Anaphylactic shock. And of course death. Just read the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System reports. They are scary.

The Gardasil vaccine claim is about as big a tort reform as I have ever seen. I do not believe the big drug companies should be able to do what they want to do, unchecked. The high ceiling of damages is about the only thing that can touch, reach and affect a huge corporation. The problem with tort reform is that it is legislation designed to reduce liability costs through limits on damages and modification of liability rules. Simply, that means reducing the damage to fat cat Merck who has made upward of a billion and a half in profits, leaving behind a marketing battlefield scattered with the shells of sick and dying girls. (Even ONE is too many--what if she were YOUR daughter?) This kind of reform is meant to protect the corporation and allow them keep raking in money hand over fist--over the bodies of our injured daughters.

The safety and effectiveness of Gardasil is very much in question, as well it should be. Currently there are girls with damaged--and lost--lives whose very real issues are being dismissed as "anecdotal evidence." Such evidence should be evaluated for further research, rather than being dismissed as useless. Scientists talk about everything needing scientific proof, but the reality is that everything hinges on the interests or bias of the researchers.

Talking about scientific proof reminds me that Gardasil is not my only issue--I am reminded of the justification I felt last year when scientists finally at last found tangible proof that swallowing hexavalent chromium is as harmful as inhaling it. After a two-year animal study, the National Toxicology Program said there is "clear evidence of carcinogenic activity" if the chemical is consumed in drinking water.

Yes, my old nemesis hexavalent chromium is still around. That same chemical is an issue here in the US, Greece, Italy and Australia. In fact--I just got an interesting problem in from Australia concerning a large group of paramedics whose dyed clothing contains hexavalent chromium, and they are all getting sick. But I will let everyone know more about what is going on there after I start investigating. I mentioned Greece--HVC-contaminated sites in Greece cover a huge area. Remember the Asopos River has 400,000 times the amount of HVC that should be in groundwater. The Greek government made public promises to update their freshwater and wastewater handling, and fined twenty companies 1.4 million for illegal dumping; but some of the companies are protesting the fines. And the river and groundwater are still contaminated. I mentioned Italy. In Italy, there is some research on controlling HVC contamination with the use of activated carbon filtration, but people are dying of cancer there--like the fourteen employees of PM Galvanica di Tezze sul Brenta. If that doesn't convince you there's an Italian problem with HVC, do an internet search on Samanta Di Persio's book Morti Bianche, (White Death.) It's a harrowing account of pollution, corruption, exploitation and loss.

Hexavalent Chromium is like a disease that keeps spreading. No wonder the film Erin Brockovich rocked the boat. It opened Pandora’s box. It opened the door.

It opened our eyes.

Not only could it and did it affect the families featured in the film...
Not only could and did it affect my neighbors...
Not only could and did it affect people a world away...
It can and is affecting you and me right now.

It's not like Hexavalent Chromium is the only dangerously mishandled chemical there is. There are more mishandled toxic chemicals out there than any of us would like to consider. But we have to consider them all. This is our wake up call. Not a call to arms, but a call to Green.

It is time for us to live as Green as possible. That means corporate and personal responsibility. It means not spreading toxic chemicals, not causing destruction. As human beings, we can choose to live gently on the land. We can choose to give back instead of take.

Because the philosophy of being green is not so strange. It is just the philosophy of life. We have to consider what is important to us as human beings.

Do we worship at the altar of the Mighty Corporation? I say no. If we don’t address these issues, if we don’t stand up against tort reform, we lose our only defense against Industry. Public health and safety will be sacrificed. We the people are the only thing in the way; and we the people are only thing that will be reformed. And not in a good way.

Also, I wanted to reassure some of you, in case some of you may have noticed a change in my presence on the web. I'm just in the process of consolidating my resources, and putting together a new web page. I'm still here, and trust me, I'm not giving up or going away any time soon.

Stick-to-it-iveness is still my motto.