Attacks on environmental protection continue East River

As the “dog days” of summer roll on, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks officials are warning pet owners of blue-green algae blooms appearing in ponds and lakes across the state.https://t.co/w5lzerPWTX

— Brookings Register (@brkgsregister) August 8, 2019

South Dakota State University President Barry Dunn says the chemical toilet should simply accept more confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Mitchell Peterson, an attorney from the Davenport Evans law firm in Sioux Falls who is representing the Living River Group, Sierra Club told Clay County commissioners acting as a board of adjustment Tuesday that they have heard a lot of reasons from their constituents stating why a conditional use permit issued to Travis Mockler should not be approved. Peterson noted that the county’s ordinance dealing with CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) and AFOs (Animal Feeding Operations) states that ‘the applicant shall obtain a letter from the NRCS to determine if the application should be considered an AFO or a CAFO. Peterson said he believed that allowing the maximum number of two medium livestock operations on a single site and not defining it as a CAFO supported his statement. [Sierra Club Attorney: ‘You Have To Say No’]

This isn't self-reliance; it's moral hazard. Instead of empowering stakeholders to harvest snow melt and rain water rural communities continue to be dependent on politicians who exploit need.

Like most of East River South Dakota southwestern Minnesota is a Republican stronghold where dairies, swine units and other concentrated animal feeding operations have devastated water supplies by contaminating wells with nitrates. The United States Geological Survey has found elevated levels of arsenic in ground water near hog confinements.

South Dakota is struggling to keep white workers, infrastructure is crumbling, industrial agriculture is failing, South Dakota churches are girding for gun violence, meth is replacing alcohol as the state's drug of choice, Pierre's culture of corruption and rape violence threaten open government, socialism is quietly replacing free enterprise, pheasant numbers are dwindling, environmental degradation is increasing, wildlife are being exterminated to make way for disease-ridden domestic livestock and exotic fowl, jails far outnumber colleges, ag bankers continue to enslave landowners and the state's medical industry triopoly operates without scrutiny.

Nevertheless, the Yankton County Commission has approved a conditional use permit for a hog nursery barn in the northern part of that county.

Medical industry monopoly cutting another fat hog for Rally

Yippeee!

At post time at least one biker is dead and many more are expected to die or be maimed at the annual Sturgis bacchanal.

In 2018, the five Regional Health hospitals treated 610 rally-related patients. Mark Schulte, president of the Sturgis Market for Regional Health, said his staff is prepared for the rally, which is marking its 79th anniversary and is expected to attract around a half-million visitors this year. [Rapid City Journal

Yep, "the Sturgis Market" is one big meth, sex traffacking and white men spending money party and a giant windfall for the Black Hills medical industry monopoly.

During the Rally riders loop through Aladdin to Hulett and Devils Tower then back through Sundance, Wyoming where, not coincidentally, Rapid City Regional has another "Sturgis Market" branch. Highways are often crowded to capacity and drunken bikers can be seen weaving over every roadway in the Black Hills. Deer are unpredictable and now join bighorn sheep, recently released by the South Dakota's GOP wildlife 'management' arm, as obstacles to avoid.

As Wyoming's economy retools from oil, coal and a history of workplace deaths the state has become a more desirable tourist destination especially during the Rally where dying is just part of the fun. Republicans in Wyoming chalk up biker deaths as necessary for the common weal just as South Dakota GOPers do.

Yes, hypocrisy reigns supreme at the highest levels of power in South Dakota so residents will endure another Rally where this year at least a half a million attendees will spend an average of a thousand dollars each so the sitting governor can crow about her leadership and self-reliance while moral hazards pay the bills.

Meanwhile, hotels, motels and campgrounds in the Hills have jacked up their rates and are all booked so a murder of fat white Republican crows can swill alcohol, stuff their faces, buy Trump t-shirts and children for sex then kill themselves and each other with reckless abandon.

Documents revealed this week show that Rapid City Regional Hospital was first cited for disposing medical waste at the city dump over a year ago. Despite repeated warnings, discussions and fines directed at Rapid City Regional Hospital over the past year, city officials say it's still happening today.

Read that here.

Rapid City is stuck because Republicans don't give a shit about medical contamination. If the city raises rates to dump Regional will simply contract somebody to haul it to Sturgis where nobody cares about anything except the almighty dollar.

Yeeehawww!

As usual this Rapid City-based medical industry monopoly is cutting a fat hog during the Sturgis Rally. We don't know how many are in ICU on life support or brain dead on a vent. https://t.co/It09wGntIW #sdleg #blackhills #Sturgis2019 https://t.co/WKPBnaRzLR

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) August 5, 2019

American football going the way of the dodo in New Mexico

A study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found 110 out of 111 brains of those who played in the National Football League had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

In June, McCurdy Charter School in Española canceled its season after half of the 26 players were declared academically ineligible. Questa, which prematurely ended back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018 because of a lack of players, will not field a team this year. On Wednesday, Mission Achievement and Success Charter School in Albuquerque dropped out of the New Mexico Activities Association, meaning it will not play football this season. Los Alamos’ [Garrett] Williams laments that his program lags behind sports like cross-country and soccer in terms of attracting athletes, in part because some parents didn’t play the sport or grow up in football-centric towns. [Santa Fe New Mexican]

The only difference between American football and Roman gladiators is the losing team isn't fed to the lions.

American football is a tool of fascism. NFL players protesting law enforcement industry violence against people of color during the Star-Speckled Banana before contests is America's just deserts.

The NFL, the Fox group and the Trump Organization are among the country's most hated companies. Dissolving the NFL then ending college and high school ball can't happen soon enough.

Today's intersection: South Dakota's death panel and the spike in diabetes

#sdleg @sdgop and ⁦@SDGovDaugaard⁩ were a part of a death panel. https://t.co/9CgpKDi6gw

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) July 22, 2019

Yes, the South Dakota Republican Party is a death panel.

Insurance premiums can have a unique impact from state to state, given health insurance exchanges and Medicare and Medicaid. Growing health care costs ultimately lead to increases in health insurance premiums. South Dakota is ranked at the top of all other states, with a 66 percent increase from 6.7 percent of the population having diabetes in 2007 to 11.1 percent of South Dakotans having diabetes in 2017. The direct medical expenses in 2017 totaled half a billion dollars. [Pierre Capital Journal]

Fact is: 77 percent of foods purchased by US schools are acquired from distributors like Sysco or Reinhart and only 11 percent come from local sources. Locally grown fruits and vegetables are served by some schools but not in South Dakota.

Former Governor Denny Daugaard describes Melody Schopp's breast implants

According to USDA’s Farm to School Census, 36 percent of the U.S. public school districts that completed the questionnaire reported serving at least some locally produced foods in school lunches or breakfasts during school years 2011-12 or 2012-13. While fruits and vegetables topped the list of local foods served in schools in 2011-12, 45 percent of the school districts that used local foods reported serving locally produced milk, and 27 percent reported serving locally produced baked goods. [United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service]

#sdgop @kristinoem lauds death panels https://t.co/YCu0U9rMY9 #sdleg pic.twitter.com/uAssIatzgx

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) February 25, 2017

Anyone else notice how Pat Powers, his wife and kids overeat to get high but condemn people who smoke cannabis as addicts? South Dakota's junk food-addicted GOP blogger has been touting former At-large US Representative, now Governor Kristi Noem's political fight against diabetes. Noem wants even more business to go to corporate sources developing genetically engineered sugar beets. Marshall, Minnesota-based pizza peddler Schwan's greases Republicans including Noem with campaign cash. So do other industrial ag companies like Crystal Sugar selling salted fat to schools and she paid them back.

Rep. Kristi Noem on Tuesday announced plans for legislation that reduces federal mandates on school meal standards, including the more stringent whole grain requirements that went into effect in July 2014 and the Target 2 sodium requirements set to be implemented in the coming years. [Mitchell Daily Republic]

Guess who else stands to benefit from spikes in obesity and diabetes and privatizing the Indian Health Service? Yep, Reich Mike Rounds.

Mother Jones tells readers why.

But opponents of the act argue that the requirements leave students with unappetizing choices that result in tons of waste. This notion was supported in a spring 2014 report from the Harvard School of Public Health, which found that nearly 75 percent of vegetables and 40 percent of fruit being served in school cafeterias were ending up in trash cans. But critics have pointed out that helping "struggling schools" is not the sole agenda of the SNA—its sponsors include Domino's Pizza, General Mills Foodservice, PepsiCo Foodservice, and Tyson Foods, Inc.—all of whom contract with school cafeterias and would benefit from less stringent nutritional regulations. [Allie Gross]

Most South Dakota schools could be feeding food waste to chickens and hogs maybe composting for community gardens. Hot Springs, Philip and Midland enjoy geothermal water to heat greenhouses.

Progress has been made under current school lunch rules but as industrial agriculture lines Republican pockets South Dakota's women and children will continue to suffer from elevated risks to obesity and to moral hazard.

Tax junk food and slow diabetes.

Fat acceptance is worse than fat shaming https://t.co/KetdbmrYUB

— Kaitlin Bennett (@KaitMarieox) April 7, 2019

Conejos Fire being allowed to clear fuels

Longtime college friend, Kim and his sweetheart, Christina just spent his birthday week at the casita. We traded lodging for tickets to The Dead South who played at Santa Fe Brewing Company's new venue.

One day trip we took was from Bandelier National Monument through the Jemez Mountains--the attached image was captured at Valles Caldera National Preserve where some scenes from the teevee series Longmire were produced. Christina is a fire management specialist in Arizona so we were encouraged by how well the aspen and gambel oak are coming back in the Las Conchas and Thompson Ridge wildfire scars.

There are numerous slash piles along NM4 in the higher elevations and places where low intensity fire has been recently introduced. It looks like the Santa Fe National Forest is planning more prescribed fires but much of the grass is actually too green to fire very well.

The Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) plans to manage the Conejos Fire for multiple resource benefits, including improved forest health, reduced fuel loadings and improved wildlife habitat. Naturally occurring fires that burn with lower intensity under favorable conditions help reintroduce fire to fire-dependent forest ecosystems. Firefighter and public safety is always the first priority on all wildland fire incidents. [NM Fire Info]

Smoke from the Conejos Fire is clearly visible from Red Rock Road even this morning.

Il Trumpo has blamed California wildfires on the lack of logging with statements typically lacking in facts but the real culprits are decades of fire suppression, Republican entrenchment and a warming climate.

We just drove by this burn — plenty of smoke. It’s a sin prescribed burns cost so more than wildland fires to contain and control. #nmfire https://t.co/A1E5Jvnzbi

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) July 31, 2019