Monthly Archives: September 2009


I learned from a speaker at the Unitarian church service I attended with a friend that the pipeline running just a half mile from my house will carry not regular petroleum but benzine. I knew the tar sands were in a diluent but I didn’t know what it was. He said it’s not a question of it if will leak, but when and where and how much. The old people on the reservation have been having dreams about a great conflagration. Benzine is far more toxic and flammable than petroleum. Removing the tar sands has already caused problems for the people in one of the Canadian provinces (can’t remember which) including two tribes of indigenous people. It also takes a lot of energy to process it, so it doesn’t add anything to the total supply. The pipelines goes under the Mississippi in this area, in several places. It also affects two other major rivers that supply millions of people with water.

We’ve already had problems with that pipeline. But that’s another story.

A Dollar Tree in your Town?

If there’s a Dollar Tree store in your town and you are an avid reader, you might be pleasantly surprised. I have found gift quality books at Dollar Tree: hardcover and quality trade paperbacks of short story collections, mainstream novels, bestsellers, mysteries, historicals and thrillers. It’s pretty much a grab bag selection. I have not found much of interest (to me) in their nonfiction and reference book selections. Today I bought a novel about Charles II and I passed up a true story about how the stolen painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch was rescued. A true life thriller. Maybe I’ll go back tomorrow and see if it’s still there.