Here is the latest letter circulating around Flower Mound. This letter is juvenile and does not offer one fact. The name calling reminds me of my days on the playground in elementary school.
The reality is on January 21st 600 people showed up at the Town Council meeting and voiced their opposition to the Centralized Collection Facility and current drilling regulations. Then 6000 residents signed the petition for a TEMPORARY moratorium. This moratorium would allow the town time to strengthen the Oil & Gas Ordinance to protect ALL Flower Mound residents and still allow mineral owners to benefit from their gas leases.
Click here to see who the radical is!
Another Concerned Citizen said...
ReplyDeleteWe want to add this info. Here is the report from News 8 last night on the election
http://www.wfaa.com/news/politics/Gas-moratorium-is-central-issue-in-Flower-Mound-election-91003564.html
Read the comments by Challeger51 aka Shiloh Chris. He is spewing these lies on the FM Cares Facebook too.
At least there aren't any misspellings.
ReplyDelete"This letter is juvenile and does not offer one fact. The name calling reminds me of my days on the playground in elementary school."
ReplyDeleteThis statement coming from FM Cares? This brings new meaning to the term "hypocrisy".
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8595496
ReplyDeleteHurray!!! Finally, in the vast intellectual wasteland that is the anti-drilling movement in Flower Mound, a flicker of light from Anon 5:21 with an abstract from a study linking hydrocarbon field workers to leukemia. My congratulations on your separating yourself from the irrational herd. Now, Anon 5:21, what should we conclude from this study and what actions should be taken?
ReplyDeleteWell, you patronizing pontificator, I would suggest that a similar long-term study be done on people who live in close proximity to these sites, but of course we both know that will never happen, and if it did, industry would never let it see the light of day. The idea is to drill for the next 30 years and worry about those pesky health effects later. Have you put in your application for Town attorney yet or are you just waiting on the Mayor's rubber stamp?
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:34 - please tell me you are not Anon 5:21 - I am holding out hope that they can provide a rational discussion of the issues before us - you clearly do not qualify.
ReplyDeleteOh, and to answer your question, no, I have not applied for the post of town attorney. That is not likely to happen since I am not an attorney. I do, however, think it would be an excellent idea for the Town Council to initiate an RFP process for a new law firm to represent the town. Perhaps we can agree on that?
The prudent person (council) would err on the side of caution when lack of concrete evidence is available and concerns from a large number of people persist, especially when they are health concerns. They would put all reasonable measure's in place (vapor recovery, constant long-term air monitoring from a company not under the influence of industry). It's funny how Robison asked for air monitoring, when the otherside adopts YOUR campaign platform, you know you are driving the conversation, and not the one that as to react to what the other side is doing.
ReplyDelete@April 16, 2010 9:16 PM - you seem to be the self-annointed genious on this forum, why don't you answer your own question - "What should we conclude from this study and what actions should be taken?"
ReplyDeleteI really would like for you to bestow upon us your infinite wisdom?
I give up. It's obvious that the quest for rational thought on the anti-drilling side will not bear fruit. But can we at least have coherent sentences?
ReplyDeleteWhen I see an OR in the study of 2.0, 2.8. and 8.7, especially with a clear correlation between long term employment yielding risk levels nearly 9x the control group, it is a cause for concern. This coupled with the fact that the workers can assumed to be grown men who are exposed for no more than 12 hours versus small children who will be subjected to exposure around the clock and who are more susceptible. Unfortunately, the only way to prove this scientifically is to use Flower Mound (and all Barnett Shale) children as test cases over the next 10-30 years, which will conclude long after the spotlight of gas drilling will be long gone. You say you want a rational discussion, I'm trying man, but you have to meet me half way.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:16 - You refer to me as a "self-annointed genious". Please - invest in a dictionary.
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:23 - You seem to think that the Flower Mound experiment you describe has not already happened. Gas drilling has been a reality in this country for over a century, and yes, in some highly populated areas (California, for example). So where are these clusters of diseased children? They do not exist.
But regardless of real world results, and absent the full study itself, let's assume you want to take action based solely on the abstract. What should we do?
Let's bring this back to a calm conversation. The premise of this letter seems to be that Flower Mound Cares and NFL want power and will do anything to get it. Could someone elaborate on why they want this power and what Mark Stewart thinks they will do once they get it? The answer to this question should be key to any evaluation of this letter.
ReplyDeleteThe claims tha Alinski was a marxist is false. Even the icon of the right William Buckley praised Alinski. The most common description of Alinski is "an organizer of the non-socialsit left". The rules are attributed to Alinski are also false. Check out a copy of his Rules for Radicals for a list of his real rules. Thanks to Mark Stewart for making that such an easy thing to do.
There are a few pieces of information that are true. First Obama is influenced by Alinski. This is true of many community organizers. Second, Melissa was a campaign manger for Filidoro and supported Lyda. Third, there are links on Flower Mound Cares to the groups mentioned. If these groups are extremist liberal groups clearly is clearly view of Mr. Stewar they are but he offers no evidence to support that view. Other claims in this letter are difficult if not impossible to address because they offer no concrete examples. Specifically, if you are going to charge that a website and blog is filled with misinformation, outright lies and ill wishes it would be helpful if you gave specific examples. Until that is done, either a reader of the letter should ignore the statement, verify the statement for themselves or accept that Mr. Stewart judgement is good enough for them.
I don't know Mr. Stewart and I would assume most people do not. So I would caution most people against taking his statements as fact without verifying them for themselves.
So there it is, a review of the letter. Mr. Stewart's letter is a collection of unsubstantiated statements and viewpoints, and misrepresentations of the writings and biography of a dead person. When you deconstruct this letter there is not much there.
Wait.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know what gives Mr. Stewart the right to claim that only liberals demand accountability? Does he realize that the Flower Mound consists mostly of conservative
ReplyDeleterepublicans. I am one. I bet the majority of the petition signers were conservatives too. Mr. Stewart sounds desperate and is very disrespectful to his fellow conservatives.
The republican part does not tell me my opinion on every topic, so who's the zealot?
ReplyDeleteThis particular blog had followed a rather circuitous route, but after venturing off on a tangent centered on a rather obscure academic study we seem to be back to the original post - Mr. Stewart's letter. Good. What you all seem to me missing is a very important point - the letter may well prove to be quite effective at winning votes. You may take issue with the simple message of Alinski = Obama = FM Cares, but it will play well with quite a few of the citizens in a community dominated by Republicans. Frankly, it's the best piece of political advocacy that I have seen in this election to date.
ReplyDeleteThat letter is disgusting. There is not one fact stated. Mr. Stewart proved who the real radical is in this town. No one ever said they were going to stop drilling. But nice spin trying to make people think that is what is happening. You call everyone who doesn't see your point of view socialist, marxist, radicals.
ReplyDeleteWhat I haven't seen yet is what name they have given your group that wants to drill baby drill.
That is right, there has been none. No name calling from the concerned citizens demanding drilling be done safely.
Grow up Mr. Stewart.
Anon 12:57 - You claim there has been "no name calling from the concerned citizens demanding that drilling be done safely". I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are new to the world of FM gas drilling blogs. If you go through the blogs on this site alone, for only the last week, you will see the following examples of "name calling" directed at people who support property owners' rights:
ReplyDelete"spewing these lies"
"inbred crowd"
"arrogant or stupid"
"cruel and vicious"
"dishonorable mayor and council"
"zealot for money"
"low and childish"
"ruthless and can't be trusted"
There are plenty of insults being tossed out from both camps.
Let's leave the rhetoric aside. Let's consider what we get if a Smith, Robinson, Webb ticket wins. We get a mayor for an unprecedented fourth term. A mayor with vast personal wealth. A mayor who at least helped select the candidates to run. A mayor who has funded the campaigns of both candidates. One is her self proclaimed "best financial adviser", thus clearly establishing a close personal and financial relationship. All three have or have had contractual relationships and received undisclosed sums from an industry they seek to regulate. An industry with the power of eminent domain that could be used to seize the property of anyone who stands in the way of this mayor or this council. This campaign has used the police to threaten petitioners and petition locations. Threatened town employees using powers they are precluded from using by the Town Charter. The mayors friends are now agents or contact points for the industry, realizing who knows how much money from this new relationship. What type of government is this? Mr. Stewart you appear to be an expert? Is it good to have one person and one industry with so much power over a town? Who would ever stand in their way in the future knowing the powers they will use to break anyone who questions them? How do those who are supporters know with certainty they will not be a target in the future? I voted for this mayor 3 times, I now stand opposed. I do not recall this model being taught in American classrooms, does anyone else?
ReplyDeleteNo name has been given to a "drill baby drill" group because one does not exist.
ReplyDeletePretty much everyone in FloMo favors a rational and safe approach to accessing the minerals.
The poor Pod People of Wellington are so used to having their overbearing HOA tell them what plants to buy and where to park their cars, that they want their own Zombie Pod Person, Northern, whose ONLY experience is in an HOA to try and "run" things. Good luck
Anon 3:47 - Are you an adult?
ReplyDeleteTo April 19 - 3:47 pm:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely! I would much rather have a "goose pinching Mayor" caught on tape, then audio talk shows host reference her unprofessional behavior! That serves Flower Mound Proud!