Comments ChristianHGross has made

Please don't emotionalize this...

Just because people are sick and dying does not equate to Chevron having to pay. People are sick and dying all the time due to one reason or another. Let's start a list shall we, cell phone radiation, hormones in animals, genetically modified foods...  The list goes on and on and on.

Let's start with the first issue: (BTW I would like to point out that I have relatives who live in Ecuador, and I have had my father die on what we think was cell phone radiation.)

1. What was the legal law present at the time of the deeds. Because if you are going to hold a company liable then you have to look at the laws of the time. This gets very complicated since at the time Ecuador was a mess in terms of legal and law. Ecuador is not one of the most corrupt nations on the planet for nothing.

2. If the laws at the time did not forbid Texaco from doing what they did, then things become more complicated. What has to be proven is that at the time of action Texaco did things that they could have avoided. On this there is some legal footing since Texaco was not doing the same thing in Ecuador as they were doing in other places.

3. Legal precedent I think in this cannot hold since you have to ask yourself what laws were in place? Ecuador? Then all Chevron would have to say is, "bugger you I am not there." America? Ah, but then comes the problems of international and the fact that Ecuador is a mess in terms of law.  International court is a joke so let's not even start there.

4. Texaco was pushed out, and anybody who says otherwise is doing revisionist history. And the fact that they were pushed out is relevant because what Chevron can argue is that they clean up was cut short. After all they did clean up. Now you might say they did not do it good enough. Fair enough, but you have to go back to the times of the act and ask yourself what were the local conditions. All Chevron has to say is, "we were kicked out and to the best of our abilities we tried to be safe and cleaned up..."

If I were Correa, I would have done the following:

1. Let foreign companies come back in and make investments.
   
2. Get companies to help clean up the mess. I would have taken the tack and said, "I know things back then were funny, but that was then, this is now." People are dying, getting sick and we need to move on, move forward.
   
3. Take a smaller slice in the royalties in return for acting responsibly.

Is this really a problem?

This video actually illustrates the problem. Yes there is climate change, but climate change has existed always. So there will be winners and there will be losers.

In terms of wine, I know that the German wine growers are rejoicing because they can actually grow reds. Most of you will think, German red wine? Yes Germany grows some pretty good reds these days.

In this case I guess California will draw the short end of the stick.On Climate change impacts on wineries: Could this be the last straw for some? posted 2 years, 3 months ago 2 Responses

Tried Vegetarian, but could not hack it...

I tried a vegetarian diet, but I could not hack it. My mother who is a vegetarian has no problems with it. I missed the meat, even after nine months of going meatless.

Then I realized what was my problem in that I actually like meat. So I did some research and learned people have preferences and their weights are due to their biases.

My answer is a low-carb diet, BUT, not an atkins diet. I call it the low-car natural food diet. I stay away from almost all processed foods, flour based, sugar based stuff. Our food bill went up by 20% because we cut out almost all carbohydrates and end up double or triple fruits and vegetables.

The diet I devised focuses on eating unprocessed natural foods. Plenty of vegetables, fruits and lesser amounts of meat. We eat bread that reassembles pumpernickel and is mostly made up of natural grains. Interestingly enough wholesome bread has very little carbs, but provides the fiber that my wife and I need.

What was hard about this diet is that we eat no Italian (yes there are lo-carb noodles, but we want to focus on un-processed foods), Asia without the rice, and no potatoes. Staying away from Italian was hard as that was my favorite cooking style. Though eating meals with two or three courses of vegetables is actually quite nice. Most folks eat one course of vegies, one meat, and one carb.

My wife and I have been doing it for 8 months. The result is that my wife and I have more energy, and we have lost weight. For me I can now finally keep my weight off.

Switching into this diet was hard because both my wife and I had headaches for about two weeks to a month. It was not funny to wake up every morning with a headache that just would not go away. Though the headaches went away.

One weird thing that happened to me is that I have developed a dislike for the taste of fat and fried food. While I eat beef, and pork, my preference has definitely steered towards the lighter meats such as poultry and fish. I actually crave fish. I had no intent on this, and my wife thinks that it is a fad. I am not so sure because my body literally wants fish and lighter meats.

Do we miss candy bars, processed foods such as doughnuts, Fruit Loops, french fries, etc? Not at all, which does amaze us. I used to have a REAL BAD sweet tooth that runs through my family. During my vegetarian stint I wanted meat. But in this diet I don't crave noodles (even though I adored Italian), nor rice or potatoes. Though I will admit outside of pasta I was never a carbohydrate fan, so I guess it was easier to adopt this diet.

My point is not to convince you of this diet, but that I think everybody needs to listen to their inner voice and adopt the diet that suits them best.

What is ironic about my wife's and I diet is the food bill of the vegetarian and us is similar with one exception. A vegetarian buys carbs, we buy meat.

NOTE: If you are going to adopt this diet be prepared for your food bill to go up by at least 20%. Carbs are cheap, fruits and vegetables are not.On On the difficulties of going veggie posted 2 years, 4 months ago 65 Responses

Why We Are In The Mess

I have blogged time and time again that the reason why the farmer is dying off is because people are not willing to put their money where their mouth is. I am a capitalist by nature and will defend capitalism.

I put my money where my mouth is by buying organic produce whenever possible, fair trade products whenever possible, and locally whenever possible. Yes it costs more money, as my food bill is about 25% higher than if I bought the cheapest. BUT I also feel good about helping my fellow farmer. I have two close family members that rely on farming.

In fact I wish this blog would focus more on how to help farmers because farmers are the "canaries" in the mine.On How legislators can help the rural posted 2 years, 4 months ago 11 Responses

How Can Anyone Believe This?

Alisha: Many protected areas in Ecuador are really only protected until further notice. The government can change a region's status when it is convenient for them - and they have done so in the past. Therefore, this biodiversity hotspot needs our urgent attention, government regulations will not do it.

You are right, and governments do change their perspective on a dimes notice. Ok, lets say the world pays 350 million. How are you going to stop Ecuador from drilling once they want to? Invade them? Talk to them while the cutting starts?

Personally, I say let him drill. He talks about change and helping his country, but if he walks the talk then he will not let the companies drill. And what many fail to realize is that Ecuador has plenty of money.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5359458.stm

What Ecuador fails to do time and time again is spend it properly. Correa said he wants to stop corruption, well it looks like with this request he is just continuing what plagues Ecuador.On Ultimatum to the rest of the world posted 2 years, 5 months ago 12 Responses