Thursday, March 28, 2013

Fracking the inconvenient truth!

I just went to a continuing Education class on Fracking put on by an attorney named Lee Chilcote. He is a big fan of Fracking because he stands to make big money. Now I know that 2 hour education course doesn't give me enough information to be an expert on this subject, but it did give me some valuable information that I feel I must share with you.

First of all Fracking isn't like installing an oil drill or a gas well. This is a big operation. It is a relatively new science that is still in its learning stages. Therefore there have been a lot of accidents that have caused irretrievable damage. For one Fracking drill site to be installed they need 640 acres or 2 square miles. What they do is drill down 6000 to 8000 feet vertically. Then they horizontally lazar out around the center in all directions 1 mile. This is done with water,sand and a chemical. Before this class I thought that the checmical was the cause for all these enviromental accidents. What happens when you drill this far down into the earths surface is you bring up radio active gases called radon. We see radon in homes that are built on shale and have a sub pump. This is a gas that can cause lung cancer. The problem with the drilling is this gas is extremely dense in radon. Not like the gas that may leak into your basement. If they drill too far down below the rock surface they can hit earths plates and cause a shift like they saw in Pennsylvannia with earthquakes.

So far the accidents that have ocurred have been down played. A house blew up in Ohio. Ground waters are being contaminated all over the country and earthquakes have ocurred. There are no repairs for these accidents. It is permanent. The pros and cons for fracking turns out to be financial windfall versus our environment. There are very few laws to protect us from Fracking. The CERLA Comprehensive Environmental Response,Compenstion,and Liability Act does not cover fracking.The SDWA Safe Water Drinking Act does not cover fracking! The RCRA The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act does not cover Fracking. CAA Clean Air Act does not cover Fracking! This Fracking business is like the Wild West. Our countries laws are not prepared to protect it people from this industry. The State of New York and Vermont have issued a moratorium until they feel they can safely move forward with this new way to recover fuel gases.

Governer Kasich is running full speed ahead seeing this as the big windfall Ohio needs to pull itself forward. It will be a windfall and it will give a kick to our State but it is short term. If you own land (and this should be what really rocks your boat) you can't say no to fracking. If a company decides that they want your land they will force you through eminent domain. Like I said earlier this is no little operation. If you are faced with this situation you need to have guidance. Being a part of a land owner assoication is a good first step. If you sign the wrong lease they can reek havoc on your land.

Our country is most proud that a person can buy property. Our Constitution states We the people of The United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United Sates of America. Fracking doesn't apply here! NO laws, no rights of the people, no protection. We don't have to worry about terrorists anymore we have to worry about big corporations destroying our land for the sake of money.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Cleveland Restaurant week 2013

This year Clevelands annual restaurant week is February 22 to March 3. This is where a number of downtown restaurants sign on to do a price fixed menu for $30.00 a plate. Generally it includes an appetizer, entree and dessert. Last night I went dowtown to enjoy the event. I am glad to say our town was ALIVE!!!. There was so much going on downtown. The streets were full of people. The Jump Back Ball was going on at the Playhouse Square. I think a basketball game was on. We had to take another exit to get downtown because the regular exits were packed with cars around 6:30.

One of the restaurants doing the restarurant week event is Michael Symons Lola. I have wanted to go there for a long time. There was no getting a reservation through Opentable. Sometimes when this happens I call to make an reservation the old fashioned way. Most times I get a table. When I called Lolas the young woman who answered the phone was very smug and announced to me that they are booked until 10:45. It would have been nice if she tried to sell me another night or even said gee I am sorry but we can't accomadate you until 10:45. I am not going to hold this brisk behavior against our famed Michael but as a potential customer she could use a little training in the customer service department!

This years event is focused on Pierogis. We got reservations at Sans Souci in The Renaissance Hotel. This was great because we could park for $2.00 during this restaurant promotion with the certificate I printed on line. The problem was we parked at Tower City underground parking and it has a automatic ATM like machine. We were committed at that point so we paid it. I would not recommend this parking garage. It is scary and hard to drive around in. The good thing was it was cold and once inside we could go to the restaurant and then over to the Casino all within Tower City without freezing! I didn't realize that if you dine in the San Souci restaurant they will stamp your parking ticket only if you park in the Renaissance Hotel parking which is much nicer!

San Soucis Chef Brett Montgomery was voted by some group or organization as one of the best top 5 Chefs in America. I was excited to taste his work. The restaurant is kind of dated French Country which is fine because it gives it a little tattered ambience. The service was good, a little stuffy at first. We ordered the price fixed menu promotion. The appetizer was a pierogi with sour cream and carmelized mushrooms. The mushrooms were great the pierogi just average. I ordered the Lamb with polenta and spinach. It was done perfectly with a great sauce. My campanion ordered the skirt steak with potatoes and asparagas. I liked his better(always do). The potatoes were layered like scalloped potatoes and very flavorful, The steak seasoned and cooked just right and the asparagas was perfect. For desert we both got the Caramel Torte which was fabulous. I am not a big desert eater but I ate more bites than usual.

I was suurprised that this restaurant wasn't busier considering the quality of food and the notoriety of the Chef. I would definetly go back and park with the Hotel next time. All in all Cleveland was buzzing with excitement in the dead of winter. We have so many fabulous Chefs and restaurants to choose from. The Casino was packed with people every machine and table busy. We drove home down 25th street and that was filled with people too. Even with the weather below 30 degrees Clevelanders are out there!