tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post8267090734665939486..comments2024-01-28T03:56:39.351-08:00Comments on TOM CLARK: Bad NeighborsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-54659996726253003462012-08-10T04:16:16.538-07:002012-08-10T04:16:16.538-07:00Curtis, You're certainly correct, those of us ...Curtis, You're certainly correct, those of us who are its neighbors have not been endeared of Chevron Richmond for some time now, and this latest gross malfeasance in that sense constitutes less a shock than (yet another) aggravation of the offense -- given there's been so much previous, so much sorry-saying, so much promising to do better, always followed by so much doing of worse.<br /><br />Hazen, Yes, one way or another, what goes around comes around. And it's gaining on us. Since the car hit I've been unable (amonth other inabilities) to turn my head. All the better to not see things coming.<br /><br />(Personally I'd be delighted to see the price of gas skyrocket so high it's out of range of "discretionary" drivers like the one who just about killed me, right out here on the corner in Our Town.)<br /><br />Nora's dramatic shot captures the first months of the explosion and fire <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/106357849470215151857/albums/5669110902228357393/5774723465579035826" rel="nofollow">from the dock across the bay</a>.<br /><br />Ed, as to the Richmond populace consisting of white stock portfolio holders, that would draw a laugh at two a.m. down on San Pablo. Just before you got stabbed or shot.<br /><br />It remains a company town, a refinery town, continually besmirched and befouled by chemical transgression from Big Oil. <br /><br />To dwell there if there was another choice, unlikely.<br /><br />Though it is only the 61st largest city in the US, it is the sixth most dangerous city in California.<br /><br />I've shown some scenic views: e.g., the top photo here:<br /><br /><a href="http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/starlit.html" rel="nofollow">starlit</a><br /><br />... and the tenth and eleven shots here:<br /><br /><a href="http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/possessed-varieties-of-contemporary.html" rel="nofollow">possessed</a><br /><br />Probably not many portfolios hid behind those exteriors.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-87678662880816622272012-08-09T13:55:06.881-07:002012-08-09T13:55:06.881-07:00Oops, I meant to say Arcadia. You'll have to e...Oops, I meant to say A<i>r</i>cadia. You'll have to excuse me -- I grew up outside of Boston. It's a wonder I even know Rs exist.Norahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14439557611640319928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-23399946291288241202012-08-09T10:42:26.753-07:002012-08-09T10:42:26.753-07:00"Near-by residents." That's us. Ever..."Near-by residents." That's us. Everyone of us, no matter where we are.Hazenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13417573435195561519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-79506455027218784132012-08-09T10:18:54.514-07:002012-08-09T10:18:54.514-07:00Here's the view of the fire from our boat in S...Here's the view of the fire from our boat in Sausalito. Et in Acadia ego.<br /><br />https://plus.google.com/photos/106357849470215151857/albums/5669110902228357393/5774723465579035826Norahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14439557611640319928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-85745428276546156902012-08-09T10:17:00.028-07:002012-08-09T10:17:00.028-07:00try this
and notice the demographics:
http://ww...try this <br />and notice the demographics:<br /><br />http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/sherman.html<br /><br /> I bet UHAUL a copy of my newest book<br />that<br />today<br /><br />what? 30 + years after this study that Richmond is now<br />85 % white retired EDUCATED folks with at least 40% of their retirement portfolio income coming in from Chevron (and the other Big Oil Companies !<br /><br />I tell you, I wouldn't trade a single one of my Exxon-Mobil shares ( I bought when it was ESSO) for 3 for one of Pepco or Phizer !<br /><br />from th current satellite images (which shos the smoke as being (harmless?) white this and the other California fires are ALL blowing out into the Pacific... soooo?<br /><br />lets prepare to REALLY deep fry any fish we get at that famous (soot-free) pier in SF .Ed Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285310130024785775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-13030603512304141972012-08-09T10:16:54.300-07:002012-08-09T10:16:54.300-07:00I'll take Vail
without the condo
I'll take...I'll take Vail<br />without the condo<br />I'll take the bike path<br />to the bridge<br />that crosses the creek<br />and kiss<br />my favorite aspen<br />the one<br />Pacomio Chacon<br />drew on<br />his women, his name,<br />his birds and deer<br />feathers, hair, and swirlsSusan Kay Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16277139119869470939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-44425887230344681892012-08-09T08:15:20.193-07:002012-08-09T08:15:20.193-07:00A few observations--
If you think the media has a...A few observations--<br /><br />If you think the media has a chance at reporting any part of the truth of this event, consider how much money it takes to buy anyone off. Do you want a boat? Do you want a European education for your kids? Do you want a vacation condo in Vail? Or would cold cash suffice? <br /><br />Is any media entity secure enough in its standing to resist the power of oil money? Not bloody likely.<br /><br />Interesting that all the local television media refused to release maps of the affected areas, or to specify what kinds of poisons were being released, and what their probable effects would be.<br /><br />The real news stories in the Bay Area are the price-fixing by the major petroleum companies, and the rampant pollution they're spreading throughout the region. Check out the lung cancer rates in Richmond. My old next-door neighbor was an executive at Chevron, who died of lung cancer two years after he retired. "It's okay, they supported me for 30 years and put my kids through school, I forgive them." <br /><br />Meanwhile, there's that little puppy trapped in a sewer line in Redwood City. "Hello, Tammy! On location at the entry site to the line. What's the latest, Tammy?" "Well, rescuers have gotten about 15 feet in, and they can see Bip, but they can't quite reach him. They think they may be able to coax him out with an offer of food. They won't give up. They won't let Bip die there. They're going to do whatever it takes! This is Tammy of Channel 8 News, reporting."Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-62199518618597293852012-08-08T23:04:30.965-07:002012-08-08T23:04:30.965-07:00From the news story Steve links to:
"'I ...From the news story Steve links to:<br /><br />"'I looked out the window and saw 40 foot flames and black smoke,' Marc Mowrey, a Point Richmond resident who lives about a mile from the plant, said in a telephone interview.<br /><br />"He said the smell was not exceptional or very different from other days, but a huge plume of smoke was sitting over Richmond and neighboring El Cerrito."<br /><br />In other words, being slowly poisoned, sacrificing your breathing systems to the Imperial lifestyle, is merely business as usual in these parts. It's just the forty foot black smoke plume that gets your attention, sharpish.<br /><br />That apocalyptic beauty of which WB speaks has for some time now intermittently suffused California's polluted coastal sunsets with what might seem a tragic depth; though properly speaking the lurid coloured landscapes thus created out of the paintbox of human folly would now begin to seem less noble, even, than that; from outer space all these artificial chromatics might even appear the signs of a sort of suicidal baroque comedy.<br /><br />(Not that the sunsets would be all that much cleaner without "our" refineries; the steadily-streaming incoming-jetstream Chinese emission load is always up there, out there, in here, all about us, thickening the lethal carbon impasto.)TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-21616599267286992752012-08-08T13:54:25.131-07:002012-08-08T13:54:25.131-07:00That poem of yours does capture some of that apoca...That poem of yours does capture some of that apocalyptic beauty - I'm remembering watching the refinery fires from The Mumbles across Swansea Bay, compelling and very troubling. <br /><br />Writing poetry at such a moment can give us the ethical shivers, but the poems happen and they can be as exquisite as this one. <br /><br />I'm glad you wrote it, TC.Mose23https://www.blogger.com/profile/01100756913131511440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-23161141790515659922012-08-08T02:47:49.178-07:002012-08-08T02:47:49.178-07:00Ah, shucks, Tom, nothing to get hot around the col...Ah, shucks, Tom, nothing to get hot around the collar at—such shenanigans are always coolly handled by corporate hotshot PR dickheads who simply piss on all of us.vazambam (Vassilis Zambaras)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14515165428574974933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-68293208984503336372012-08-07T15:50:00.138-07:002012-08-07T15:50:00.138-07:00More -- http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/07...More -- http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/07/us-refinery-fire-chevron-richmond-idUSBRE87602Y20120807?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNewsSTEPHEN RATCLIFFEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12339481653546188412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-37573813981434039822012-08-07T15:05:37.386-07:002012-08-07T15:05:37.386-07:00Across across
the desire to go
across
not there
c...Across across<br />the desire to go<br />across<br />not there<br /><br />cloud please<br />disappear from <br />old San Fran<br />from estuary<br />edges<br />memory is <br />bird seal clam<br />whale everything<br />find those shoes<br />you have not used<br />for awhile<br />dig down<br />DiggerSusan Kay Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16277139119869470939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-11537343063181650632012-08-07T12:33:43.392-07:002012-08-07T12:33:43.392-07:00Tom,
Let's hear it for "those valiant to...Tom,<br /><br />Let's hear it for "those valiant tollbooth warriors" who "simply (and sensibly) vamoosed," that "facemasked young man on a bike" and all those unnamed and voiceless "nearby residents" of the neighborhood, to whom Mother Chevron has so graciously apologized for possibly having inconvenienced them, alas.<br /><br />8.7<br /><br />silver circle of sun rising above black<br />plane of ridge, bee landing on lavender<br />in foreground, sound of wave in channel<br /><br /> before bodies, distribution<br /> of mass then was that<br /><br /> since, as has been observed,<br /> seemed can be present<br /><br />silver of sunlight reflected in channel,<br />waning white moon in cloudless blue skySTEPHEN RATCLIFFEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12339481653546188412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-9881972551227962202012-08-07T11:14:29.797-07:002012-08-07T11:14:29.797-07:00you should have seen Richmond in 1973 when I moved...you should have seen Richmond in 1973 when I moved there. I lasted about 3 weeks... woke up one morning and vomited from inhaling the air ... went into Berkley<br />and Sf to finish some (business) then<br /><br />got the hell out of California went north were that smoke/soot followed me all the way to Seattle !<br /><br />sure is nice to see that our "pollution controls" are NOW working ! just another metaphorical war ? like the "War on Poverty? the War of Drugs? the War on Illegals? the war on Them ?<br /><br />wow that War on Pollution has been making some folks very wealthy !Ed Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285310130024785775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-23581219739570653922012-08-07T10:29:55.636-07:002012-08-07T10:29:55.636-07:00In the early hours, the spokesperson impeccably as...In the early hours, the spokesperson impeccably assured us that the water used to put out the fire would not enter the environment.<br /><br />"Which is quite a trick," commented the companion. <br /><br />"You get the feeling it's a kind of Fukushima-say-anything-after-the-accident damage control."<br /><br />At the peak, or should one say nadir, of the toxic plume event, the toll takers on the Richmond-San Rafael Bride simply (and sensibly) vamoosed. <br /><br />Missing in action, were those valiant tollbooth warriors. <br /><br />Drivers with windows rolled up tight and clenched facemasks rolled through the poison zone without paying.<br /><br />But it turns out there's no free toxic lunch after all. <br /><br />Later it was announced that the non-payers' license plate numbers are recorded on camera, and they will get a bill for the toll.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-47487542576753220152012-08-07T10:18:27.344-07:002012-08-07T10:18:27.344-07:00Chevron
are you there?
next to my heart
my badge
...Chevron<br />are you there?<br />next to my heart<br />my badge <br /><br />I belong <br />to the Clan of the<br />Care Bears<br />yes I meant that<br />in this cave<br />I'm bored<br />and want to know<br />what to do<br />with all this <br />fire--<br />make some junk<br />ruin my bed<br />myself<br />in front of<br />behind the others<br />pay for it<br />practically free<br /><br />Resource<br />you get used<br />and used<br />until you <br />finally become<br />worth your<br />weight in gold<br />heavy as the dead<br />planet<br />water<br />more expensive<br />it was cleanest<br />can you imagine?Susan Kay Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16277139119869470939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-43433416277177706492012-08-07T10:15:40.024-07:002012-08-07T10:15:40.024-07:00We have these refinery fires every now and again, ...We have these refinery fires every now and again, just up the road. The closest fallout victims are poor, black, aggrieved, and without voice. It's only the knock-on effect on local oil prices that the middle classes really care about. The apologetic p.r. spokespersons of the oil companies are blonde, well groomed, and so concerned about "the community" (where of course they will never have set actual foot -- as Alfred Hayes might have had it).TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-18921551276333402662012-08-07T10:06:47.392-07:002012-08-07T10:06:47.392-07:00"...last hundred years of /human habitation?-..."...last hundred years of /human habitation?--rendering/"<br /><br />We boil off the fat<br />from the fat ozone<br />we cannot see--<br />we are so concrete<br />but when it comes<br />to the most crucial<br />we are blind<br />to what is in front<br />of us<br />Richmond<br />beyond our wildest <br />dreams never stopping<br />its burning<br />into our brains<br />The Tunnel<br />The Cloud<br />stupid<br />so easy to start<br />fires<br />only a genius<br />now<br />can put them out<br />Close your eyes<br />and you can still<br />see the goldSusan Kay Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16277139119869470939noreply@blogger.com