Res Ipsa Loquitur

I was going to mention the absolute contempt that the U.S. upper-classes, and by extension the bureaucracies, agencies, and businesses that they control, exhibit toward poor white people (while at the same time treating minorities and illegal aliens with patronizing sensitivity), then I read the "Poor, White and Pissed" article and realized that everyone except the current residents of the Searcy area already knows that the main reason for sending that expensive water is that someone or some group has decided it's time to flush out the trash and make room a more productive population.

I must admit that if the Buffalo River was affected, I would disappointed. It's always been a pasttime of my family's to canoe the Buffalo but then again, I had no idea there wasn't a public water system there. Seems they'll have to find a more affordable way for people to get water than $2.70 per 1000 gallons and if the Buffalo is sacrificed, then so be it.

Most of the current residents have no illusions about what's happening. They're not trying to get rid of the current population (well, except maybe the Park Service, who apparently wishes the locals would vanish completely from the area b/c they're not paying tourists). The little cabal who controls the area are trying to increase their hold over everyone else. There's been several businesses try to locate there (large cheap labor source) but they've either been kept out by local businesses that don't want any competition, or by the insufficient water supply. Or by the Park Service, who always object on the basis of some 'impact' on the Buffalo. (Every waterway there drains into the Buffalo at one point or another.)

I can remember very well what the Buffalo was like before becoming a national park. It was a helluva lot cleaner than it is now, for sure. I stopped going there when my kids & I were bass fishing in a little slough & I discovered there was about 1/2 inch of sunscreen oil on top of the water. Not to mention the other nasty things tourists do there, like use it as a bathroom. But apparently THAT has no impact, according to the NPS, who regularly increases the canoeing permits.

Yaya, there are small public water systems around the more urban areas, if you can call the small towns there urban. But nothing with the capacity to furnish any type of industry. And I'd guess the majority of people there are still on well water, or like my parents, spring water. Which I can't resist drinking anytime I visit them. I know it's not good for me, but I can't help it. There's just something about the limestone it's filtered through that makes it taste soooo good.

BTW, completely off topic, but Kenneth you want to wait until cabbage has a nice firm head before eating it. The outer leaves are bitter, as you discovered.

Thanks Rita. Glad you feel better. I can't wait until the cabbages are ready to eat. Until I turned 50 and decided to change my life-style the main vegetable in my diet was a snickers bar, which went perfectly with the coffee and cigarette main course. I started eating tomatoes last summer (that I grew), and now eating leafy green things and eggplant is going to be kind of a mysterious adventure. I'm sort of glad I saved it for, well, not last, but later.

Thanks Kenneth. I'm not completely back to par, but am feeling much better today. Few things taste better than home-grown veggies, especially tomatoes. We're not able to grow much where we live now, but if we're ever able to get our own place, a small garden spot is going to be one of the first things we make.

Funny thing, there's something about the soil here that makes tomatoes highly acidic....to the point that I get mouth sores if I eat them. Just like when I was a kid, I eat 'em anyway.

Like the song says, "What'd life be without homegrown tomatoes?"