Pizza Pizza . . .

I worked in an office for a freight forwarder for thirteen years.  It was my first real, full-time job after graduation from college.  I didn't always like everything about that job.  I made many attempts to leave this job for a better one.  Success on that front was elusive for thirteen years though, but was finally achieved. When I finally left, management expressed their disappointment, offered their 'desire' to keep me in their employ and in the end, wished me the best as we parted on good terms.  And as a last and magnanimous gesture and a fond farewell, they expressed their appreciation of my years of service in celebration with a 'pizza lunch.'  Yes, a 'pizza lunch'.

Well, it certainly could have been worse.  Then for that matter, it could have been better too.  It was in accordance with their general approach to good employees;  in short, it wasn't much.

But, in my situation with this firm, no one lost a life and no one's health was in jeopardy. . . unlike
CHEVRON. . .

(from http://www.npr.org/2014/03/25/293875192/chevron-pizza-scandal-leaves-small-town-divided and http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chevrons-pizza-coupons-no-scandal-bobtown-pennsylvania-locals-say/)
 . . . Chevron responded to an explosion of one of its natural gas wells by giving nearby residents coupons for free pizza. The explosion killed a young worker. None of the patrons has voiced outrage, he said, and residents laughed about how people who have never set foot in Bobtown claim to speak for its citizens.

Many critics of fracking seek stricter regulations or bans to protect air and water from pollution, while supporters speak of the economic benefits for an energy-hungry nation. Each side claims the high moral ground.

About 12,000 people have signed an online petition demanding Chevron apologize, according to petition organizer Karen Feridun.  Chevron says they work to be a good partner in communities, that it has been "overwhelmed by the support" from residents and that it appreciates their understanding. . .

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)

'2014' available April 8, 2014 at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak
Pre-order your copy of "2014" at the iTunes Store NOW

My latest solo release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Thoughts. . .

. . . about our environment. . .

(from http://www.nbcnews.com/science/fracking-practices-blame-ohio-earthquakes-8C11073601)
". . .Research now reveals wastewater from fracking is linked to all the earthquakes in a town in Ohio with no history of earthquakes.

Fracking involves high pressure injection of water, sand and other materials into a well to fracture rock which opens up fissures from which oil and natural gas can flow freely. This process generates wastewater which is disposed of by pumping it underground.

Advocates claim fracking is a safe, economical source of clean energy, while critics argue that it taints drinking water supplies and causes other problems.

Before January 2011, Youngstown, Ohio had never experienced an earthquake since researchers began observations in 1776. In December 2010, the Northstar 1 injection well came online to pump wastewater from fracking projects in Pennsylvania into storage deep underground. In the year that followed, Youngstown recorded 109 earthquakes. The well was soon shut down. . ."


(from http://www.monbiot.com/2013/08/30/backwards-reasoning/)
". . .Many of those who deny that climate change is taking place reached that position as a result of their opposition to wind farms. This, for example, was the route taken by David Bellamy, who stumbled disastrously into the debate a decade ago.

During one of our discussions, he set me the following challenge:
“Why are the so-called greens backing a cartel of multinational companies which are hell bent on covering some of the best of our countryside with so-called wind farms, which can neither provide us with a sustainable source of future energy nor have any measurable effect reducing the amount of carbon dioxide pouring into the atmosphere? If he [George Monbiot] can disprove the latter – which is the mathematical truth – I will fall into line over global warming”.

In other words, if I could disprove his contention that windfarms are useless, he would accept climate change science. I don’t mean to disinter an ancient and long-settled debate, but to use this as an example of a common phenomenon, to which all of us succumb from time to time. When we don’t like an outcome, we reject the premise. . ."

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Person?. . .

(from www.MoveToAmend.org)
When it comes to constitutions, the application of law, and common sense, the Supreme Court of the United States could learn a thing or two from President Judge Debbie O’Dell-Seneca of the Washington County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania.

O’Dell-Seneca overruled a previous decision that sealed a settlement between a Mount Pleasant Township family and large energy corporations, which caused the family harm because of fracking on an adjacent property to their own. The Observer-Reporter and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette pressed the suit, which ultimately decided the public’s right to be informed outstripped the corporation’s right to privacy.

In fact, O’Dell-Seneca went much further than that. The judge asserted corporations have no constitutional rights:

“...the constitution vests in business entities no special rights that the laws of this Commonwealth cannot extinguish. In sum, [corporations] cannot assert [constitutional privacy] protections because they are not mentioned in its text.”

“...it is axiomatic that corporations, companies, and partnerships have no ‘spiritual nature,’ ‘feelings,’ ‘intellect,’ ‘beliefs,’ ‘thoughts,’ ‘emotions,’ or ‘sensations,’ because they do not exist in the manner that humankind exists… They cannot be ‘let alone’ by government, because businesses are but grapes, ripe upon the vine of the law, that the people of this Commonwealth raise, tend, and prune at their pleasure and need.”

Despite the mainstream media’s blackout on any reporting that calls into question corporate personhood, this recent decision is an important victory for our movement.

CELDF (Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund) Executive Director Thomas Linzey writes:  “The ruling represents the first crack in the judicial armor that has been so meticulously welded together by major corporations. And it affirms what many communities already know -- that change only occurs when people begin to openly question and challenge legal doctrines that have been treated as sacred by most lawyers and judges.”

Laws follow culture and the legal system adjusts as society's views shift. This case illustrates that we are collectively beginning to change hearts and minds about the appropriate role of the corporation in society, even amongst those who are entrenched in the current system.

What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet