Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, October 04, 2013

Devastating Photos Of Florida Pollution Will Fill You With Rage

On Thursday, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) will present shocking photos of polluted Florida waterways to Congress "so that Washington can see the pressing need to find real solutions to address this problem that has gone on for far too long."

Murphy asked his constituents to send in photos of the toxic water lapping under their boats and docks, and will present the four most jaw-dropping at his October 3 briefing, which is co-hosted by Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.). (Watch a livestream above.)

When major rains overwhelmed Lake Okeechobee this summer, the Army Corps of Engineers released billions of gallons of polluted water into surrounding estuaries rather than risk a breach of the fragile dike.

The deluge of water carried contaminates from area farms and septic tanks, and skewed the salinity at waterways like the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, reports the New York Times. The disruption caused a burst of dangerous algae to grow causing a perfect storm of environmental dangers.

Indian River Lagoon specifically was called a "killing zone" and a "mass murder mystery" after the sudden death of 46 dolphins, 111 manatees, 300 pelicans, and 47,000 acres of sea grass beds.

Gov. Rick Scott (R) vetoed funding for a research project to study the extreme crisis at the lagoon, writing "not all projects demonstrate an ability to contribute to a statewide investment.”

However Scott, soon up for re-election, recently visited the estuaries and proposed to spend $130 million on solutions.

He also wrote to President Obama, asking him to visit and see firsthand "how the federal government’s shortcomings have affected families."

In the meantime, Rep. Murphy's culled photos of the damage may be all the convincing D.C needs to take action.

  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy
    "Taylor Creek in Fort Pierce"
  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy
  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy
    "Polluted water entering the estuary at the Stuart Locks"
  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy
  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy
  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy
  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy

    "Found this green sea turtle in the channel just north of the Sailing Center boat ramp. It was floating high in the water and i thought it was a dead manatee at first. Someone from the Sailing Center reported it as that. I saw no trauma at all so there were no obvious clues why it died. The Indian river lagoons used to be full of these turtles." -- Indian Riverkeeper

  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy
  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy
  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy
  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy
    "Along the St. Lucie and Hobe Sound Preserve"
  • Facebook.com/CongressmanPatrickMurphy

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com
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