By George Rossi

In another life, I created a character called “Little Georgie”. A public persona to function as a suit… one that could be removed when going home to your private life.

I put that suit in mothballs in 1998, and when returning back to Skaneateles / Syracuse, I decided to pull the old suit out of the closet for one more try, just to see if I could still fit in it, and maybe to explore the possibility of wearing it as a career again in 2008.

In all honesty, I could, but after 10 years, it was a little tight around the middle, metaphorically speaking.

Going through the amount of work and financial resources to have that personal experiment was quite illuminating. It helped me to clarify what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, or better put, what I didn’t want to do. Juggling all those balls just isn’t intellectually, artistically, and more importantly, spiritually compelling enough to assume the role of “Ring Master” for me anymore. More than anything, it became painfully apparent that it was time for a third act. The “Little Georgie” Suit went back into mothballs, and probably for good this time.

Excerpt from Syracuse.com / The Post-Standard

I have vivid memories of September 11, 2001. As a third grader, I understood very little about the details of the situation, but I certainly knew enough to be afraid and saddened by the events. The losses were devastating, and to this day I grieve for the victims and their families.

However, we now find ourselves almost nine years into a war whose benefits remain questionable to me. The War in Afghanistan began when the United States stepped in to protect its citizens, to combat terrorism, and to capture bin Laden.

Read entire article here.

By Patrick Blackburn

Skaneateles Library Announces Launch of a Series on Social Media

The Skaneateles Library Association is announcing today that it will be launching a series of presentations called What is This Social Media and Why Should I Care? on March 10th and 11th, 2010. They will be given by Patrick Blackburn, an interactive arts consultant.

Social Media is a catch all name for many different internet and mobile tools designed for sharing information with other people. The sheer number of people now involved in these various applications is astounding and growing by leaps and bounds each and every day.

By: Laura Brazak

I am a woman of a “certain age”. I’m pushing 50 but feeling pretty good. Getting to a point in my life where I can really start working on my “self”, my career, my relationships and my house. I joined a gym last year, I’m in a relationship with an actual “nice guy”, getting excited about my city-we even have a woman mayor! I can finally afford to buy some expensive products for my skin and hair, can afford to shop for a new bag now and then (not COACH…yet!), was looking forward to working on my house and yard, maybe finally paint the kitchen after living here for 8 years.

By Laura Brazak

I am almost 47 years old and have lived in Syracuse for approximately 20 years but today was my first time seeing my County Legislature in action. I guess my days of allowing my government to decide my fate are over. Thanks to the spectre of hydrofracking, I am now more than ever, a fully functioning member of society who takes my civic responsibilities seriously. And it only took me being scared out of my wits to get involved.

By: George Rossi

Boring as it may seem, Modern Fracking technology probably isn’t as evil as some may think, nor as safe as others may want to lead you to believe…and it probably falls somewhere in the middle.

That said, there are major red flags associated with the process and methods, the industry, and the legislative agendas that remove oversight attached to that industry, that have caused me to take a more pro-active stance… because very few people in our area even know this is coming, let alone have access to enough information to make an informed judgment about the issue of Hydrofracking in watersheds that service a high density population.

By Laura Brazak

Believe me, I wanted to come right home and start frantically scribbling…ranting and raving. Thankfully, I talked myself down off the ledge and decided to sleep on it instead. Good thing, otherwise this would have come out an X-rated diatribe…unfit for public consumption. And this is too important an issue for me to go all crazy on somebody; even if that somebody is the Gas & Oil industry and they’re practically begging for it. I will show restraint and try to be calm, eloquent and reasonable.

By Laura Brazak

Maybe we could leave some of that gas in the ground if we didn’t need to make 8000 truck trips over the life of a single well? Driving around the water and the gas and the wastewater uses a lot of fuel. Couldn’t we just leave it in the ground and call it a wash?? Just asking…

And I’m not even going to wonder who is going to repair the roads after 8000 trips PER WELL. That might be considered “bad form” or “fear mongering”. So even in my current state of exhaustion, a little easy math is in order to clarify an eventual probable reality. 100 fracking leases have been signed around Skaneateles Lake. One active well equals 8000 trips, multiplied by 100. So, let’s see Skaneateles residents, that is potentially 800,000 smoke belching trucks rumbling by over the next few years, primarily within the village limits, tearing up and down Rickard Road, Coon Hill Road, and Pork Road…. and the residual radioactive, radon infused, chemically toxic 34,000 or so gallons of salty waste water (per well) being transported down Route 41 or Route 20, on it’s way to a treatment facility in Oneonta that isn’t remotely qualified to treat the sludge in the first place.

By: Laura Brazak

FRACKING FOR DUMMIES
(Yes, that means you.)

Everything you always wanted to know about Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing but were afraid to ask. As explained by yours truly. Who for the sake of full disclosure will admit right now that I am not currently, nor have I ever been: a geologist, a scientist, an oilman, an economist or Vice President. BUT I DO DRINK WATER and have a vested interest in my community, my city and my state. So, after immersing myself in the concept up to my eyeballs for the last month and a half, I will now attempt to answer some questions.

1. Why should I care?

You should care because the quality of the water that comes out of your tap is about to be compromised. The water that you drink, cook with and bathe in is at risk.

By: Laura Brazak

200,000 people get their water from Skaneateles Lake. Less than 200 people showed up for a community forum on hydrofracking.

This was my third event and my first “community forum”. I applaud those who came out. Really. I appreciate you taking the time to be a good citizen. However, I did not appreciate the tone and demeanor of those whose job it is as elected public officials, to show up and listen. It was like they were doing us a huge favor. And those who weren’t elected…who were appointed or hired to DO THEIR JOB…had that same sort of condescending, patronizing tone. Like we can’t possibly grasp the complexities of the situation and to please just let them handle it. The whole evening was like bad theater. I especially liked how the one television camera man who bothered to cover the event, made a huge show of gathering up all his equipment and hauling it up the center aisle about 3 minutes after the event started…

This is about our water. Our water that comes out of the tap. The water that we drink.

It’s not about how many rules and regulations are on the books and it’s not about technology and it’s definitely not about jobs or road usage…

Everybody can be on the side of water, right? And as one lady stated: “You can’t drink money.”

We are blessed. Especially here in Syracuse where our water comes to us unfiltered. One of only 7 water systems in the whole United States where this happens. And there are already 100 parcels of land leased for drilling in the Skaneateles Lake Watershed? 18,000 acres of land IN ONONDAGA COUNTY are already leased. And the Onondaga county legislature wants a pat on the back for not allowing drilling on county land? What about all the other land??? So they move 100 feet to the left or the right? Really? Is that the best our elected public officials can do for us? There is the potential for multiple wells on parcels each needing millions of gallons of water to operate with no discussion of why we can afford to waste our water…or what happens to the 34,000 gallons per well that are left contaminated and radioactive.

The Oil and Gas Industry is exempt from compliance with regards to the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and the Superfund, just to name a few. In 2005, Congress passed an energy bill that pretty much let this ONE industry off the hook. They can do what ever they want. Then the Supreme court said that corporations can act as individuals and make unlimited contributions to politicians. So what do you think is likely to happen??

I wish that all of those 200 CITIZENS would make an effort to inform family and friends of what is happening right here in our own back yards. We need to shake off our apathy and get informed. This is our water and our quality of life.
I hope that this note will inspire a few people to check out some of my links that I have posted or do your own research. This is important.

HydroFracking links:

* A review of Onondaga County records, only one-third complete, shows there are already more than 1,300 leases signed by landowners in the county…more than 18,000 acres.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/environmentalists_meet_in_syra.html

* As of early December, oil and gas companies had bought drilling rights on almost 100 parcels of land in the Skaneateles watershed.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/syracuse_urges_state_dec_to_ba.html

* In the 2005 Energy Policy Act, Congress exempted hydraulic fracturing from federal oversight.

http://www.governing.com/article/hydrofracking-natural-gas-worth-risk

* The “Halliburton loophole” exempts this practice from compliance with the Clean Water Drinking Act.
* In New Mexico, similar processes have leached toxic chemicals into the water table at 800 sites. Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas and Wyoming report similar problems.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hydrofracking

* Pennsylvania’s oil and gas wells currently produce 9 millions gallons of wastewater a day.
* Tho in 2008 drilling brought 29,000 jobs and $240 million in state and local taxes to Pennsylvania.

http://www.propublica.org/feature/wastewater-from-gas-drilling-boom-may-threaten-monongahela-river

* As New York gears up for a massive expansion of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, state officials have made a potentially troubling discovery about the wastewater created by the process: It’s radioactive.

http://www.propublica.org/feature/is-the-marcellus-shale-too-hot-to-handle-1109

* New hydrofracking awareness group on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=299066172191

* Fracking for Dummies by Laura Brazak – Everything you always wanted to know about Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing but were afraid to ask.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150092411965257

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Learn more about Laura Brazak here.