Those Fracking Russians! Colluding Up Some Sand With Green Activists

Frack Free Illinoisfracking

Tens of millions of dollars are moved from Russia through Klein “in the form of anonymous donations” to a U.S.-based nonprofit called the Sea Change Foundation. Newsweek

 My buddy, Stu Haugen, gave me a heads up on some Russki Collusion.

Since 2014,   Putin has been colluding with Obama bundler and environmental-oligarch Tom Steyer to put an end to fracking.

Top U.S. government officials who have acknowledged the connection between Russian and environmental groups include former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president in 2016.
In 2014, Clinton delivered a “private speech” in which she discussed Russia’s financial support for environmental groups, the letter says. The speech was included in documents released by WikiLeaks, it says.
An Oct. 10, 2016, report in The Washington Times quoted Clinton as saying:
"We [the State Department and the U.S. government] were up against Russia pushing oligarchs and others to buy media. We were even up against phony environmental groups, and I’m a big environmentalist, but these were funded by the Russians to stand up against any effort, ‘Oh that pipeline, that fracking, that whatever will be a problem for you,’ and a lot of that money supporting that effort was coming from Russia."

Fracking is a modern method of getting cheaper fuels.

Can't have that,  any more than cheaper health care, according to the American elites.

While Donald Junior has stepped on his . . .finger, shall we say . . .with the e-mail dump from people who set him up like pay-day-loan customer and given the elites more combustible oxygen to burn out any thoughts other than Putin and Trump collusion, environmentalists  have taken Kremlin coin to fight fracking.

I saw this in North Utica, Illinois where I spent a glorious 4th of July.  There was this huge sign coming into town from I-80.  La Salle County, Illinois and Hegewisch as well as Whiting, Indiana have been targeted by Green activists for some serious activism and now it appears that like most Left-of -Center initiatives - grassroots come from far, far away.  In this case Vlad Putin's Russia. Fractrakker is one method and resource for activists who would not know Wisconsin Drift from Loess Over Bedrock, but would bus happily over to Starved Rock, or the Pierogo Festival to anti-Fas up a storm.

That said, fracking is controversial.  I have yet to set a match to a water faucet in Hegewisch, Whiting, or Utica and get immolated.   People have had problems.  Farmers are surrounded by sand pits, as more mining operations take hold in La Salle County

"Mining frac sand is a lot like mining regular sand except it's wildly profitable, and that's why everyone wants to do it," said Todd Vencil, managing director of equities research at Sterne Agee, a privately owned brokerage firm based in Birmingham, Ala.
The company paid $8 million to buy the land, according to property and state records, and it expects to invest $25 million to $50 million to get the mine running, according to company filings.
The rolling corn and soybean fields near Starved Rock State Park, 95 miles southwest of Chicago, are coveted by multinational corporations for the fine-grain sand deep below the rich soil. Known as Ottawa white, the sand is uniformly circular — perfect for drillers who pump a mixture of sand and chemicals into fracking wells across the nation.
"In the world, there are not that many — geographically speaking — deposits of very high quality northern white sand that has the technical specifications that are in greatest demand. One of those areas is in Illinois, and it's close to the surface of the earth," said Robert Stewart, executive vice president of strategy, corporate development and communications at Eagle Materials. (emphases my own)

La Salle County is not new to controversy - that was one of Com Ed's nuclear stations built to fight America's dependency on OPEC - remember them?  Nuclear power had environmentalists screaming doom to the loam, because La Salle County might be at seismic risk ( earth quake) and I might become an NBA power guard - the odds are about the same 1-357,143.

Fracking is good. Even Obama's energy Czar Ernest Muniz said so, “The natural gas boom, in particular, has led to the displacement of high-carbon coal with low-carbon natural gas producing fewer emissions. ”  The Obama EPA released a report that many of the myths about dangers to drinking water were revealed to be myths and uncomfortable falsehoods. 

That will not stop the Birkenstock irregulars from boarding buses and holding news conferences for the nodding public.

Fracking is the Green beef du jour in Illinois. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is heavy in Illinois and owns many State Representatives and State Senators. The NRDC is home to Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprion, as well as Illini activist Henry Henderson.  Henderson is a veryfrequent Huffington Post expert poster on things Green and as far back as 2013 has attempted to stop fracking in its steps

But our overall position on fracking has not changed: unless and until we have strong, protective safeguards on the books, we should not start fracking in Illinois. Certainly, plenty can happen between this point and the Governor’s desk, so while we are encouraged by what is currently in the bill (check my colleague Ann Alexander’s blog for a rundown of the technical issues addressed in the bill that has been introduced), we will remain vigilant for any weakening of the standards. A watered down version of the bill as it stands today might point to the need for other options in the Land of Lincoln.

Well, Illinois politicians are moved by their wallets Henry.

It sure seems that groups like NRDC needed to put the touch on Putin

 Contrary to what Russia’s propaganda machine and its environmental allies have told news consumers in Europe and America, fracking is safe, effective, and enormously beneficial, Nick Loris, an economist and energy policy analyst with The Heritage Foundation, said in an email to The Daily Signal.
“If successful, an anti-fracking campaign is depriving Americans of good-paying jobs and affordable, dependable energy,” Loris said. “Despite smears and outright lies from environmental activists, smart drilling and energy extraction technologies have been proven to be safe.”
“It feels like every week a new study is published, confirming what we already know,” he said. “Hydraulic fracturing does not contaminate drinking water. The facts and history of hydraulic fracturing, a history that dates back more than half a century and over 1 million fracked wells, indicate that many of the fears associated with the process are grossly exaggerated or flat-out unsubstantiated.” Newsweek. 

Well, frack me crosseyed!

Better ask Vlad for more dough.

In the mean time - How About that Trump Kid?

The Alperts are Evergreen - Lani and Herb Having a Great Time

I had one hell of a great day yesterday, October 15, 2016.

At 8:30 AM the exquisite Miss Terry Sullivan and I drove through Roseland taking my time-honored 107th Street to Cottage Grove North to 103rd Street East to Torrance Ave, South to 106th East past Pat Carroll's iconic Crow Bar and the mouthwatering Birreria Ocotlon. onto Indianapolis Boulevard south into the wilds of Indiana and the blue collar Gold Coast of Whiting.

We made it from Morgan Park to Whiting in under forty minutes and arrived at St. Adalbert's Catholic Church founded in 1906 by Polish steel and oil refinery workers.  Like Bridgeport, there is a National Catholic Church and more than a few Croatian Hussite, Serbian Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox churches every fifty feet.  The huge St. John the Baptist Catholic Church was the "english' or American, or Irish church and it dominates the landscape of Whiting/Robertsdale/Hammond along the Skyway over Wolf Lake.

We were guests at a wedding! It was a Tridentine Latin Mass and the music was wonderful.  After the Mass we drove south on Indy to Ridge Road and the Polish Discalced Carmelite Fathers Shrine to Our Lady - a maginficent piece of scared real estate that encompasses shrines, chapels, meeting halls, meditation walks, living rosary paths and a banquet hall.

The wedding party was blessed by the Bishop of Gary.  We sat with couples from Toronto, Minnesota and the Glynns who live across the tracks from me in Sawmill Lane.  There were scores of babies, toddlers and little guys grooving to the tunes. Great food by the way - family style chicken, beef, spuds and vegetables.  We took it easy on the portions - I mean I did, as our early evening appointment was looming - Parker's in Downers Grove.

We said our farewells to Bride and Groom and all and sundry and headed to 80/94 and the route home - Borman to bishop Ford to 1-57 to 111th to 107th and change our Sunday go-to- meeting duds at Casa Hickey. Quick change and onto the peak of the day - dinner at Parker's and the a concert by Herb Alpert and his Chicago-born bride, the brilliant singer Lani Hall.

Lani Hall hit the switch on my adolescent hormones, in 1966 when she and the strawberry blonde ignited males planet wide when introduced to America by Eartha Kitt!



With Sergio Medez, Lani Hall managed to improve tastes in music among my generation. Brazilian jazz, pop improvements - the Beatles wish their version Fool on the Hill was as good as Brazil '66.  Paul McCartney is no Lani Hall, Bub.




Lani Hall was the voice we always recognized, but never seemed to recall the person offering it up.  Who's Lani Hall?  A great lady and married to Herb Alpert.

I never had much love for the Tijuana Brass, though I did love the Whipped Cream album cover.  I always thought Herb Alpert's Brass was too Mitch Miller Square - you know - sounds like Game Show Music. 

Wrong.

Okay I have loved Lani Hall's voice for forty years and change and I sniffed at the work of man with whom she has been married to for as long.

This Guy's In Love With Her!   More so - she with him!

Last night, I wanted to hear Lani Hall and worried that I would be fogged by Lonely Bull, Casino Royale and stuff like that.  Herb Alpert reworks good songs fusing many genres, jazz, pop, hip-hop and innovative flourishes his side men freely work-out beyond the practiced charts.

He and Lani Hall repeatedly used the word Evergreen to connect songs that have worked for generations with people of good natures.  The song Besa Me Mucho *was said to have been written by a 16 year old Mexican girl, but the tune is one of the most recorded worldwide.  Evergreen is a connection and it explains Lani and Herb.  Get a load of this



Herb Alpert is a fun guy.  Alpert laments the loss of good music for inflated bass riffs and idiotic lyrics.  He has a deeply sweet nature that pokes fun at himself and a sharply professional musicianship that offers only what people deserve to hear. He respects his craft, his partners, his wife, himself and most of all the people laying down scores of dollars and filling the seats of McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage - there was not a seat open for this show.

Herb  Alpert founded A/M Records in 1962 with his pal Jerry Moss.  Alpert is a genius and an exacting perfectionist on himself.  His trumpet work is remarkable.  Albert asks the audience to speak up, as do many performers, but Alpert actually means it.  He treats the audience with respect and easy good humor.  For the opening minutes, Alpert and the three great musicians with him.


Lani Hall was sensational, beautiful, sweet and very much in love his her guy - Herb is a lucky guy. 

Whiting's Pierogi Fest 2015 - Dough Matters & Odzemok on 119th Street

Today is the last day of the Whiting, Indiana 2015 Peirogi Fest - the absolute best street fest anywhere.  I have been going to Pierogi Fest since the 1990's when I lived in Griffith, Indiana. This is a celebration of people manifested in the treats prepared by busha, or jaja, depending upon ethnic origin.  For northwest Indiana, that means Slovak, Polish, Czech. Bohemian, Moldavian, Serbian or Croatian more than likely.  These folks were the manufacturers of American steel and the refiners of John D. Rockefeller's oil for the 100 years of the American Century.

The American Century seems to embarrass too many people today.  That is sad.   Sad people call the tunes too often these days - they are the ones out among the happy people with the 'equality and fairness' tape measures squawking about hurt feelings and feelings not as yet pinched.  Sad people do not celebrate, they berate, ridicule, ignore and forget.  Happy people dance! Happy people eat!  Happy people sing!  Happy people put away as much Pierogi as they can lay hands upon.

I am happy.    I spent the entire day among happy eaters and dancers: earth launched boot slapping Slovakian horn-dogs locking metaphorical antlers with other athletic swains from the valleys and meadows of the Heart of Europe in thick rut for the attentions of gorgeous, black and blue-eyed beauties in bright pink, black, green, orange and yellow dresses whirling wildly enough for this old geezer to remark "I See London; I See France!" Odzemok, Boy-oh! Three Slovak Dance Troupes from Detroit, Cleveland and Toronto wowed me.

I am happy!  I watched hundreds of kids hurling 12" softball at a modestly sized target-trigger in order to sink a little Carmelite nun into a vat of cool water.  For $ 5 you get three shots to Dunk the Nun.. I couldn't dunk a Camelite.  Had it been a Sinsinawa Dominican or a Sister of Mercy, I'd still be peeling off $20s. I donated my five and bought sister a cold beverage of malted grains.  Best believe that, Junior.


I am happy.  I spent some quality time with Mr. Pierogi, his own bad -self.

I am happy.  I spent a few Jacksons on Pierogi prepared by a landsman - Conley's Pierogis!

 I had Taco Pierogis. I had Louisiana Gator Pierogis!  I had Big Daddy's BubbaQue Pierogis.

I am Happy!  I was with people I know and Love! Neighbors who celebrate!  Sad people don't celebrate - they organize, march and howl. Happy people celebrate up a plenty!

The heat and humidity was exquisite and the massive crowd of happy people enjoying the celebration of genuine happiness was courteous to all and sundry.  Even the eight month olds were happy.

Get happy.  Get over to Whiting.



*Odzemok, considered by many to be the "national" or most typical dance of Slovakia, has been well preserved up to the present time. The physically strenuous and virtuoso movements of odzemok, along with its martial elements, make it basically a man's dance that is very special, indeed.

Variants of the dance are known throughout the Carpathian region by various names and are often referred to as "weapon dances." Such dances were originally danced by soldiers, robbers, and shepherds, but later they were also danced by the nobility. Accounts of this dance form survive from the 16th century and by the 19th century information became more profuse. Still, in this century, its vigor is quite remarkable.

Odzemok is found everywhere in Slovakia but is richest in the central and northeast parts, especially in the High Tatra Mountains.

BP - Big Pierogi! Whiting, Indiana's Celebration of Goodness!

Mr. Pierogi of Whiting Indiana!

Pierogi Poem

Polish pierogi served hot or cold
Should never be heavy or taste slightly old
They should be toothsome, golden and light
And twisted together if making them right
Pirogi filled with potatoes, prunes or cheese
If perfectly prepared make me weak in the knees

Author Unknown

JULY 23, 24, & 25 2010 kicks off the 16th annual Pierogi Festival, dubbed by those on high as the Year of the Jello Mold, that gelatinous dessert our bushas used to make, stuffed with all sorts of fun foods like mashmallows and fruit.THE WHITING PIEROGI FEST is presented by the Whiting Robertsdale Chamber of Commerce. Drawing almost 200,000 visitors each year, the Festival is the pride of Whiting. It allows us to celebrate our heritage while poking a little fun at ourselves at the same time. Where else can you see grown women dressed up like our grandmothers (bushas, as we say) in housecoats and babushkas? Or the lawnmower brigade strut through town with sandals and socks on like or dads did? You'll also see life-size polish pastries and goodies walking and talking waiting to take a picture with you? Only here at Whiting's Pierogi Fest. Welcome!

The fest runs from 11am to 10pm on Friday and Saturday and from 11am to 5pm on Sunday.

Where -119th St
Whiting, IN 46394
(219) 659-0292
www.pierogifest.net/

Pierogi from All Recipes,com


Ingredients

Sauerkraut Filling:
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained and minced
salt and pepper to taste

Potato Filling:
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups cold mashed potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper

Dough:
3 egg
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
Directions

To prepare the sauerkraut filling, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the drained sauerkraut and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then remove to a plate to cool.
For the mashed potato filling, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir into the mashed potatoes, and season with salt and white pepper.
To make the dough, beat together the eggs and sour cream until smooth. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder; stir into the sour cream mixture until dough comes together. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until firm and smooth. Divide the dough in half, then roll out one half to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 3 inch rounds using a biscuit cutter.
Place a small spoonful of the mashed potato filling into the center of each round. Moisten the edges with water, fold over, and press together with a fork to seal. Repeat procedure with the remaining dough and the sauerkraut filling.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add perogies and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until pierogi float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon.
Footnotes

Tip
To save time, I make my filling the night before and remove it from fridge an hour before making the dough.