"Live Free and Die" Memorial Day 2020 under occupation

"It's "Live Free or Die", not 'Live free AND die'," said Michigan Governor Whitmer at one of her coronavirus briefings.  SNL parodied it, and that is all that is out there now.

This post began as a commentary on the ridiculousness of her statement and comparing what she is doing to the book 1984.  Instead, I will let these timeless words, written by a Canadian soldier during the war to end all wars, say what needs to be said in indictment of Gretchen Whitmer.

We also received word that Bluewater gets to build compressor behind us "but we should be proud" that we lost.  We should be proud that a corporation can destroy our homes and lives, that we should be afraid and live in fear of a virus....  I don't recognize America, do you?  Would the soldiers, who lie sleeping in their graves from WWI and WWII -- would they?  What would they say to us, who hand away without thought, what they gave their lives for?   Not all wars are fought with artillery, and we must be willing to keep faith with those who fought for our futures.

In Flanders fields, the poppies blow,

Between the crosses, row on row,

  That mark our place; and in the sky

   The larks, still singing bravely, fly

Scarce heard among the guns below.

We are the Dead.  Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

  Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you, from failing hands we throw

  The torch; be yours to hold it high.

  If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

~John McCrae, 1872-1918

More Natural Gas

In my previous post, I wrote this:

However, after almost 19 years of living in the shadow of the natural gas industry, and after the night of August 10, 2016, downplaying the fear is no longer an option.  Either I leave and get far away, or I stay and fight.  If I stay and remain silent, then I lose all rights to redress when something happens.  (Not "if" something happens, "when.") 

"When" became a reality on January 30, 2019.

That fire was approximately 1500 ft from my house, and the explosion from the second vent stack lighting on fire damaged the picture window (yes, really, this one), put cracks in the drywall, and oh, the structural inspector found a cracked joist.  We are working with Consumers to get things fixed, though at first they tried to pawn us off on our insurance company.  Consumers wants things fixed sooner than can be, as this is not the weather to replace a window in.  Besides that, it is difficult to find someone to do the job, as there is a shortage of contractors, etc.  (God help you if you need a plumber, as we found out the hard way!)  

Since this incident, which affected the entire state of Michigan, multiple people have expressed to me the hope that Consumers would buy us out.  (Most of these people don't know about the new station behind us, courtesy Bluewater Gas aka WEC Energy.)  Imagine their surprise when I explain we live what is considered a "safe distance" from the plant, and they will not buy us out.  Natural gas wells only have to be off a residence about 300 ft, and in Washington Township, there are houses that sit on top of the wells, and yes, folks, that is considered safe.

Lesson #1 about the Natural Gas Industry :  If you live around natural gas, you are expendable.

Lesson #2 about the Natural Gas Industry : If you find politicians willing to help you, support them.  They are extremely rare.

I mentioned in an earlier post about the Gas War revving up again.  Eleven days before January 30th, I wrote and sent a letter to my representative and both senators in Congress about the concerns with Bluewater Gas.  The gist of it was my findings that twice Bluewater built new places, and within 5-6 years both suffered major incidents.  They are too quick to throw a place up and then *BOOM* --something happens.  Both times, it was relatively simple causes involving cut corners, if you catch my drift.

So I sent my letters off to one Republican and two Democrats, and waited.  I thought I knew who would answer and who wouldn't -- and I was utterly and completely wrong.  Representative Mitchell, to this point, is the only one who has called back and has offered any kind of support.   Neither Senator Stabenow or Senator Peters can be bothered, apparently.  I suppose I should have seen that coming after Kelo vs. City of New London, Connecticut, 2005 (US Supreme Court).   Basically, anything deemed "public good" trumps homeowner rights.  That is not exactly the way the case reads, but that is what it has become.  (Thank you, Justices Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer.  I can only hope that one day your ruling comes home to roost in your backyards.)

This is where things stand right now.  Still gone 4 days a week; Still dealing with my aunt and other issues.  Since the explosion my wonderful Mr. Claraspet is finally on board for fixing up and redoing the kitchen (yes, you will all get treated to my crazy kitchen with the 1976 cupboards.)  Still working on finding a few more machines homes.  Still hoping I will have a garden this year.  Still hoping that the Bluewater nightmare goes away.  As Padre Pio used to say, "Pray, hope, and don't worry."  I am trying.
   

Defending the important things...

My backyard view, December 28, 2017

There is a story about the karate master, Matsumura Sokon, who was challenged once and won a match simply by looking at his opponent.  It wasn't that the opponent had no skill;  Matsumura himself acknowledged that he might easily have lost the match to the skilled engraver, who continued to argue that Matsumura was the greater.  Matsumura explained it this way to his opponent:  “But I know this: you were determined to win and I was just as determined to die if I lost. That was the difference between us.”  (Karate-do, My way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi)

Those words come back to me now as I face another challenge in my life.  "You were determined to win and I was just as determined to die if I lost."  I recall the words one of my sensei used in class one night, the saying of the samurai, who each day would say, "Today is a good day to die."  It wasn't that they were suicidal, as our society assumes immediately.  It meant that if they should go into battle they would fight as if each battle was to the death.  In other words, one was fighting to win, the other was fighting for his life.

Today is a good day to die.  

Gas War 2018 has begun.  It isn't my old friends across the road this time, but the one that blew up 3 miles south of us 4 years ago along the Vector Pipeline (just to mention one incident.)  It hit our house hard, from 3 miles away.  It cracked plaster next door (we don't have plaster).  Now this company wants to build a compressor station 1/2 mile south of my house.  Already the downplaying begins:  "oh, it only blew up because of the pipeline getting hit a few days before..."  "oh, it was only compressed air, not gas...."  It is funny to me how a bunch of people, who have never done a FOIA request on an incident involving natural gas, know so much about the safety of gas.  

Fear has that effect on people.  When we are afraid, we downplay the seriousness of whatever it is so that we feel like we are in control of the fear.  We all do it at times.  I'm guilty of it myself, and I've done it with some pretty stupid and silly things (yoko geri -- side kick -- still gets me.) However, after almost 19 years of living in the shadow of the natural gas industry, and after the night of August 10, 2016, downplaying the fear is no longer an option.  Either I leave and get far away, or I stay and fight.  If I stay and remain silent, then I lose all rights to redress when something happens.  (Not "if" something happens, "when.")  

Leaving is an option we have looked at, but forces outside of our control have pretty well taken that away from us.  (Insert rant about the housing market being destroyed, Macomb Twp and their warped politics, and side rant about agribusiness vs agriculture and who is turning Macomb County into Wayne County Junior.)  Yes, the option of leaving has been taken away when it will mean between $70,000 and $100,000 mortgage, with selling a house without a mortgage on it, for one not any better than what we have.

The fight has already begun on my end.  I will be honest.  I do not know if it is possible to stop another compressor station from going in.  (Kelo v. City of New London, perhaps?)  However, I do know this:  Said company is fighting for money; I am fighting for my home.  

Today is a good day to die.