Comment Archives: Stories: Last 30 Days
Re: “In Raleigh: Hitler used ovens, Obama will use hospice to kill people like me.”
WARNING ABOUT UNC HOSPICE, CHAPEL HILL, NC.
My 90 year old mother innocently agreed to be placed in hospice three months ago. She was happy that she could get "extra help in the house" from them. She had no idea that three months later she'd be dying from medical neglect that appears to be legal.
I was told by my brother, Tom O., that my mother was being placed in Hospice (in the home) because they needed more people in the house so he and wife Mary could go to work, and Hospice would provide free nursing care. That she qualified based on her age. That if she became ill they'd provide full medical care. I questioned all of this, it seemed suspicious. Now, three months later, my mother, who had been well and was not terminally ill, and had been treated for a stomach bacteria (at my suggestion), now IS dying. It is due to medical neglect. About 5 days ago (Monday) my mother began to experience a pain in her side. She did not have any tests until Thursday, and only then, a urinalysis. The results on Fri. were inconclusive. No other tests were ordered. My brother was told she is dying, Friday. She was in so much "electric shock" type pain that they put her on morphine. No CT scans, no xrays. They don't even care to find out what is wrong with her. If this was done to a child of the age of 10, the parents would be put in jail. If this was done to a person who is middle-aged, the doctor would lose his license. But Hospice gets its clutches on you and it is suddenly legal to allow someone to die when you don't even have a current diagnosis of what is causing this downturn. No treatment. No nothing. My mother is in such pain now that she wants to die. The morphine isn't correcting it all. My brother and sister-in-law are in full agreement with "a peaceful death". I don't see a peaceful death. I see a 90 year old woman who deserves diagnostic tests and treatment who is not getting it.
This condition had never been seen before in her and yet not even an interest in ordering tests. I believe that Dr. Y and Hospice have a financial incentive not to pay for tests for my mother. I wanted outpatient or inpatient tests. They would not order these. They claim that my brother wouldn't allow it. My brother said he asked for these tests and they were denied. Someone is lying. I demand a full investigation of this. I am horrified that my mother is being medically neglected and killed under his "care". Investigate immediately so my mother has a chance, if she is still alive.
I called Adult Protective Services - no help there. I called the Chapel Hill police and they went to the house and were given excuses like "she has arteriosclerosis, failure to thrive, and blood pressure problems". None of the above explains the severe pain in her side. I was told the failure to thrive was a wrong diagnosis and that the correct one was bacteria overgrowth in the stomach, which was corrected by a specialist. The police could do nothing. They were bamboozled. Their social worker went right along with what the hospice nurse and family said. A killing in progress and they do nothing.
"Do no harm" does not mean killing the elderly. Never trust your medical care or give power of atty to someone who will benefit financially from your death. Especially if they have a history of violence ! That is a no-brainer but when you become elderly you can be talked into quite a bit.
I am disabled and cannot travel. I offered my home but was not there when Dad died and black sheep brother was. I am just appalled. This is a sign that America truly is a sick country that would allow this.
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
Urban biosolids contain industrial pollutants removed from sewage. Thousands. Most that did not even exist before 1950. Some highly toxic and persistent and magnified in the food chain. After a one-time notification, every industry, every entity connected to a sewer can legally discharge any amount of acute hazardous waste into sewage treatment plants. Here these, together with other pollutants, including pathogens, are removed from the sewage and end up in the resulting biosolids. No wonder hundreds of sludge-exposed residents have reported serious, chronic, and life threatening health symptoms. Some have died. Hundreds of cattle sickened and died after ingesting forage grown on land that had repeatedly been treated with toxics-containing biosolids. Wells are impacted. Soil permanently poisoned.
Fifteen years ago internationally renowned soil scientists at the Cornell Waste Management Institute warned that the US regulations that govern the use of biosolids do not protect human health, agriculture, or the environment. At the same time, research microbiologist, David Lewis, then a high ranking scientist at EPA, began to publish ground breaking research linking sludge-exposure to serious life threatening illnesses, including several deaths. Yet despite these warnings and increasing data that land application is not safe, EPA and state agencies are not tightening the current rules.
Absent any credible science, those promoting biosolids rely on the totally bizarre perspective of a few researchers, who-- either for personal or financial reasons-- claim that treated sewage sludge is a completely safe, organic, natural, and nutrient rich fertilizer that improves the health of plants and soil. On the contrary, biosolids is probably the most pollutant-rich material created in the 21st century. A 2008 Nature editorial calls the US biosolids program “an institutional failure spanning more than three decades.”
Yet a network of powerful "gatekeepers, " top managers from USDA, EPA, together with regional lobbying groups, such as the North East Biosolids and Residuals Association, and the biosolids industry, ignore or discredit data that does not support their agenda and harass those scientists who work to protect human health, agriculture, and the environment.
For documentation , visit www.sludgefacts.org
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
In this article it is stated:
"Approximately 88,500 dry tons of the sludge was spread in North Carolina in 2008, the report says."......"John Kiviniemi, of OWASA, spreading about 700 dry tons"
Notice that the only numbers shown were in TONS.... WHY IS THAT?... This is the "industry" ploy to confuse the public.... How many people can visualize or relate to or know what A TON OF SLUDGE LOOKS LIKE....??? WHY DIDN'T THEY USE "GALLONS"... ?? hmmmmm .. I wonder.... The public can relate to ---and know what a gallon of sludge looks like:
Here are facts IN GALLONS: 25,OOO,OOO PLUS GALLONS OF SLUDGE ARE SPREAD ON EACH OF THE 3 COUNTIES OF ALAMANCE, CHATHAM AND ORANGE PER YEAR... for a grand total of 75,000,000 gallons..
100,000,000 gallons of toxic sewage sludge are spread IN THE WATERSHED OF JORDAN LAKE... EACH YEAR!!!! and 'they' wonder why it is a cesspool....
50,000,000 gallons of sewage sludge are spread in the WATERSHED OF FALLS LAKE .... EACH YEAR!!! and they wonder why they have to close beaches every summer because of bacterial contamination....
really?????????????
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
What's to think. All of the above are serious public health challenges. The public must be organized ala the very successful Presidential type political examples in the recent past several years!
Respectfully,
John M. Ackerman, M.D.
johnmackerman@gmail.com
Re: “Public Schools First NC is sounding the alarm”
Where the heck is the Great NC education lottery money going? Quit robbing programs to enhance others if it fails cut it. If you don't have the frigging money don't spend it. We as a people need to wake up and realize most politicians are crooks they rob our hard earned money and gamble on stupid crap. 14,000,000 to fund research on snails. That was just a random made up example, but makes you think of some of the stupid crap they spend money on, while robbing our kids of an education. I am a non party person, but my beliefs are to quit paying our politicians so much give it to our soldiers and teachers. Kick them all out of office and start from scratch.
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
I will compliment the author on catching his mistake about Durham, however let me point out that though Durham county has no spray fields listed on the DENR 2009 data sheets the city of Durham does spray 1115.3 acres of land in neighboring Orange county withe their sewage-industrial waste.
There is another sleight of hand you have to look for, besides city vs. county or Class A vs. class B; don't be fooled when "sludge" is sprayed on a field and you are asked to explain why it doesn't smell... the material pulled out of a water treatment plant is also called "sludge" but of course it is not any where near the level of contamination as the "sludge" from a sewage facility, and is of course of little concern by comparison.
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
Dear Indy Editors: Please let me retract my hasty suggestion that y'all had given these two arguments, Kids health vs. Self serving conflict of interest equal time;
the same damming charge oft laid at the feet of main-stream journalism, a tidy little trick of corporate control that proposes debate on an issue that is cut and dry...
you do not spray sewage waste from a city near a school...
there is no countervailing opinion.
My retraction is given after having more carefully parsed the form of this article, looking at direct quotes attribute to supporters of potentially harming children vs those wanting to prevent harm to children, and to indirect quotes where the author simply says "According to DENR,..." or "as critics note".
Here is the data on the unintentional bias in this article, once it is parsed and served with a dollop of ire:
Those working to prevent sewage waste spray near schools got 5 direct quotes vs. those who would put children in Harms Way, with 7.
Preventing harm: number of total words in direct quotes: 85 words
Allowing continued sewage waste spraying near schools: 145... almost twice as many words in direct quotes.
Preventing harm: Number of words in indirect quotes: 185
Allowing continued sewage waste spraying near schools: 225... only 20% greater.
Re: “This week in disappointment: the budget, fracking again”
It is a crime that the Wright School was removed from the Senate budget and threatens to make this invaluable and unique service to families -- and to our State -- unavailble. Shame on our Senators. I hope the House does better. Kudos to the Indy for reporting this. Lisa's article is the only media analysis of the Senate budget I can find that mentions the Wright School
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
This article states: "Biosolids are broken down into Class A and Class B designations, with the former a higher-treatment option eliminating 99 percent of pathogens and bacteria."
These "labels" of Class A or B are another form of mis-information generated by the industry to quell the fears of the public... OWASA claims they only spread Class A, .... If sludge ends up being Class B rather than A, due to the failure of the "treatment process", then it is spread ANYWAY, with no notice to the neighborhood NOR THE FARMER THAT OWNS THE LAND... The farmer is not even given the option to decline the "FREE FERTILIZER" .... OWASA's fields have permits for both Class A or B! OWASA ...STOP LYING...
Secondly, CLASS A SLUDGE CAN BE SPREAD THICKER, WITH SMALLER BUFFERS..... there is loads of research, even by the sludge industry WERF, to show that these pathogens RE-EMERGE in the field.... Class A may kill pathogens, but the stronger, more virulent, more dangerous pathogens survive.....AND OTHER PATHOGENS RE-EMERGE AS THE TEMPERATURE AND pH NORMALIZES!....... THIS FACT IS DOCUMENTED IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH!
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
411: In many cases, toxic sewage sludge is not offered for free... but farmers are PAID to take it.... they receive money for the use of their 'driveways' or 'right-a-ways" ......or they are paid to spread it for the WWTP, in the case of OWASA.... the farmer can take the crop off of OWASA land and sell it.... so they get a "free" product to sell.... often the WWTP will BUY land from the farmers after the wells are poisoned in the case of OWASA..... many farmers are paid out right, under the table... so, "FARMERS GET SLUDGE FOR FREE".... IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE... and again... THIS IS AN INDUSTRY LIE....
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
Rubin says. "Well, you don't know what's in the food you eat, but you still eat it." This "line" must be the NEW INDUSTRY LINE he made up.... because I heard it Tuesday night from him..... I think Rubin has been breathing in too many sludge fumes in order to come up with convoluted logic such as this... I challenge Rubin to eat sewage sludge since "HE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IS IN IT" ...go for it... RIGHT?? Really Rubin.... you expect people with a brain to buy this.... ? People demand to have 'ingredients' printed on the box of their cereal boxes, and the government complied... and consumers are quick to NOT buy something with a reported contamination.... AND BELIEVE ME... IF THEY KNEW THEIR CEREAL CONTAINED GRAINS GROWN IN SLUDGE... OR THE COW THEIR HAMBURGER CAME FROM, GRAZED ON TOXIC SEWAGE SLUDGE....... they would not buy it... otherwise, why is Organic food so popular...... DROP THAT LINE, RUBIN... IT ONLY MAKES YOU LOOK SILLY...
Myra Dotson, Chair
www.sewagesludgeactionnetwork.com
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
Hogwash!
Rural dumping of "beneficial fertilizer"?
Are you saying all cities are financially irresponsible?
Sadly, this article and the vaunted Indy have been captured by the fallacies and lies of the industry which has cropped up around this liability transfer process only 20 year ago (it was dumped in the ocean prior to 1993 after congress said it was killing the marine environment).
I'm troubled when an Indy reporter can't hold a story arc... You say it's dumped in the rural areas of the state and even show a map but in the second half of your story you seem to forget the key point: you allow state officials and their advocates, those with conflict of interest, to make statements contrary to your rural facts and then fail journalistically to call them to task for their fallacious advertisements; an investigative journalist would not drop the ball like this when children's health was at stake. I suggest a reading Greg Pallast to put a little lead in your pencil.
Rural dumping of "beneficial fertilizer"... Cities paying out of their budget and raising your city taxes to haul and regulate this practice for "cash strapped farmers" who pay no city tax and do not vote in the city?
Hogwash!
What responsible city accountant would legally be allowed to transfer millions from the city treasurer to non-residents?
If in fact this industrial and sewage waste were truly beneficial would not the city at least offset their city park and city golf course fertilizer costs, if not bag it and sell it?
This must be the first of a multi-part series because I can't imagine our honorable Indy editors would allow a reporter to just skim the surface on a story about the Achillies heel of American municipalities when there is an average of 1-2 schools per county where this waste is sprayed across the street.
You are on the front lines of a national issue, where the Burlington city council is poised to finally discuss and act to call a spade a spade on June 3 at their next work session, where the group leading this fight has maneuvered it onto the agenda after a 5 year campaign and our great hope, the Indy's editors, have failed to grasp the importance of this story choosing to allow it to become a yet another main-stream media, formulaic he-said/she-said.
No mention was made of the core Indy readership in Carborro yet they drink Burlington's class B sewage and industrial waste that is sprayed only a mile upstream of their Cane Creek reservoir, along stump creek (that should read spraying 10% active, live bacteria and virus content to put it in perspective for your probiotic fans, but don't forget Burlington's East sewage facility produces the highest flame retardant levels in their sewage waste in the country)
Or that Carborro's Piedmont Health was hired to open a new health clinic at Sylvan Elementary this year to reduce the highest number of sick-days lost of any school in the Alamance school system, which was recorded in 2010 a year after Burlington was caught spraying beside the school and responded by saying they would turn their nozzles down to reduce aerial transmission in future, and notify teachers a week in advance, which they promptly forgot.
And no mention that new Nurse Practioner, Leslie Sharpe, who's been on the job 6 months, was not told about the 500 acre sewage facility across from her school when she took the job, though the school system was negotiating with the city over this at the time.
Or the family owning the field across from Sylvan being the owner of a grocery store chain in Burlington while the corn grower lies to his buyers at Townsend Mills in Siler City about his "fertilizer": some cash-strapped farmer! ...he owns a NASCAR team and mansion in Salisbury.
No mention, either, about the children your readership has to share a waiting room with at UNC when they develop rheumatoid arthritis in the first grade... 3 at one school that year.
Your readers deserves better journalistic performance.
Re: “Public Schools First NC is sounding the alarm”
As budget analysts dig deeper into the Senate GOP's budget, they discover that the proposed cuts to pre-K funding are worse than what the budget summaries indicated. The current level of 29,600 children funded by the state would drop by 7,500 in the coming fiscal year and another 2,500 -- for a total cut of 10,000 -- in 2014-15, according to the N.C. Justice Center's Matt Ellinwood.
He explains it here: http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/05/22/…
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
This article fails to address the difference in how sludge is applied to fields. The contractor used by Alamance/Burlington applies by aerial spray which allows the sludge to be carried off site by the wind. Neighbors report spray on their houses, cars, playground equipment, etc. Not only can the particles disperse off site, but they can be breathed in. Although regulations stipulate that application should not occur on windy days, the state doesn't have inspectors to ensure regulations are followed, leaving the truck drivers to regulate themselves.
The waste water treatment process (which includes the materials collected from septic tanks) separates solids from liquids. Liquids are directed back into the water system and solids are commercially composted and/or applied to land. Everyone, rural and urban residents, contributes to the production of sludge, and we are all paying for it. But we can't avoid it. Some activists believe that waste-to-energy will eliminate the problem but waste-to-energy is really just efficient incineration and, like sludge, will need to be heavily regulated and inspected.
Re: “This week in disappointment: the budget, fracking again”
A hearty congratulations to NC for dropping to 47th among the 50 states for per-student support for K–12 public schools. We now lead only Arizona, Utah, and Texas, and we are below both South Carolina and Mississippi. Congratulations for showing North Carolina's teachers, who have suffered the worst pay cuts of ANY state over the past decade, how much they matter to us. And congratulations to the Republican party for its exciting new budget, which cuts pre-K funding for poor kids, slashes school aid, eliminates all teacher assistant positions in the second and third grades (only kindergarten and first grade teachers would still be allowed an assistant—if the local school board wanted to pay for it), eliminates caps on class sizes in grades K–3, and cuts $400 million from what the schools need to maintain current funding plus enrollment growth. This shows INCREDIBLE foresight and wisdom! I'm so proud that my fellow North Carolinians showed such acumen in the voting booth, and that our elected officials--who either don't have kids in public school, or don't give a damn about them if they do--have such a keen ability to discern the difference between what is good for this state, and for children, and what is bad.
Re: “Public Schools First NC is sounding the alarm”
The behavior of this legislature is irrational and destructive. What is WRONG with these people.
One mistake: "North Carolina has dropped to 48th ... and now leads only Arizona, Utah and Texas."
Re: “Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools”
The Sewage Sludge Action Network has become involved in helping parents and concerned citizens in Alamance County, North Carolina to halt spraying of sewage sludge adjacent to elementary schools. With reports of higher than normal student illness and absenteeism rates, the practice needs to stop. The City of Burlington and the Alamance County Board of Education have been put on notice having been provided ample scientific evidence to suggest a causal relationship. To not act in protecting children from being exposed to the dangerous chemicals and pathogens contained in sewage sludge constitutes nothing less than willful negligence.
Re: “This week in disappointment: the budget, fracking again”
Wright School is the crown jewel of the state mental health system for children. It serves children and families with great success where other programs and interventions have failed with lasting results. It is truly a one of a kind program and has 50 years of positive results to back up this claim. I sincerely hope that our state rethinks this budget and choses to keep Wright School open. Thanks for shining a light on this issue. Save Wright School.
Re: “Lights, camera, eat! Favorite films about food”
and "Last Holiday" to stir up your gastric juices and "Madeline" (chocolate cake scene) to squelch them
Re: “Growing kiwis in North Carolina”
I have a male and female kiwi plants that I potted last year. They are growing beautifully but I am still not sure where I want to put them. How long can I leave them in pots and can I transfer them to bigger pots and let them grow in that?
Thanks,
Judy