Election Aftermath

Lisa Bishop and I had the pleasure of assisting Juliet at WYSO with some research on some of the major campaigns.  We surfed the web for credible resources on each of the topics.  Then Juliet put together a summary on WYSO's political page that showed where people could go to learn more about the results.

As I was sitting there, I couldn't help but consider how this process must have functioned years ago.  People must have used faxes as well as telephones just to exchange information. 

The crew at WYSO had pulled all-nighters just to stay current with the news, but they were grateful to have the Internet as a tool.  It helped them acquire information instantly.

Last week, I was having dinner with some friends.  We engaged in a conversation about just how much communication has evolved or devolved over the years.  One of my friends said that during the Lincoln/Douglas debates, people devoted 21 hours to hearing the 7 debates.  That's how dedicated they were to politics.

Then I thought about today. 

People complained about dedicating 6 hours to 3 debates.  There's one simple reason for this change:  technology.  We now count on the Internet to tell us how we should feel because it's easy and quick. 

As future elections occur, I wonder how our new way of thinking will impact our decision-making process. 

What the Frack?

When Lisa mentioned that some of the pollutants from fracking ended up in Warren, Ohio, I felt compelled to do some research.  I am from Akron, which is about an hour east of Warren.  The oddity for me is that I never once heard anything about fracking until I moved to southwest Ohio.  Either northeast Ohioans are oblivious or they just don't understand the implications of this process.

Warren did not have any laws or regulations against fracking.  They simply had the freedom to dispose of waste in their sewer systems.  However, once the EPA became involved, they did have to shut down operations.  Another interesting point that I discovered was a local article that downplayed the dangers of fracking. It had indicated that fracking does not contaminate well water.  This fact explains why northeast Ohio folks do not get up in arms about this topic.

Last week, there was an earthquake in Kentucky.  Many of my Cincinnati friends felt the tremors.  This got me thinking about fracking because many scientists have linked fracking to earthquakes.  I think it's time for everyone to get on board with this.  Fracking doesn't just pollute our water; it causes irreversible destruction.