Alice in Chains was the best concert I heard this year coming from the Santa Barbara County Bowl. When I hear their songs, I think of Layne Staley who died of a drug overdose. The vocalist from their recent tour, William DuVall, is rare in that he has the talent and ability to do justice to Alice in Chains' deeply moody, ethereal songs. The music was absolutely fantastic, and the vocal harmonies were exquisite.  I recommend seeing the live show, if you have a chance.  Definitely worth the price.



 

              






                                                                                                       



                                                     












         

Did you hear about the explosion in Mexico - the truck, unmarked for danger, loaded with explosives blew sky high killing and injuring over a hundred?


Well, you know, Pres. Bush has tried to pull strings to enable those trucks to deliver in the US.  They used to transfer the goods from their trucks to American trucks, with American drivers, just inside our border.  Bush, the NAFTA trade agreement supporters, and the Mexican government have tried to bully their way through Congress, you, and me, to get any old trucks on our roads to cut expenses for their corporate cronies. 

The House of Reps. already voiced their disapproval of this plan, and yesterday the Senate voted to not allow this access to Mexican trucks.  We don't know how safe and regulated their trucks are much less their drivers.  (Probably not as safe as US ones, IMHO.) 

If you feel strongly about this, like I do, you should e-mail, or better yet, call your Senators and Reps. to let them know your feelings about this VERY HOT issue.  I'm sure Bush would love to know how Americans felt about this issue, too.  (Yeah, right...)

Can't we stop the NAFTA agreement?  This is one treaty that we should kill.




Here's some background information about one of the aspects of this issue:


"NAFTA/MEXICAN TRUCK EMISSIONS OVERVIEW
(11/12/04 Rev. 01/21/05)
Background
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) started in June of 1990
when then Mexico President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and U.S. President
George Bush announced their intention to negotiate a free trade agreement.
Three years later, after considerable political debate, the U.S. Congress ratified it
by a vote of 234-201 in the House and 61 to 38 in the Senate in November of
1993. The implementing legislation then went to President Clinton for his
signature and on January 1, 1994 NAFTA went into effect.
Years of legal controversy followed over numerous NAFTA issues, especially
environmental issues, and on June 7, 2004 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a
decision (541U.S. ____2004, No. 03-358) overturning a previous 9 th Circuit Court
of Appeals decision which had directed the U.S. Department of Transportation,
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to conduct a full
environmental impact study as required under the National Environmental Policy
Act and a full State Implementation Plan (SIP) conformity determination as
required under the Federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Pending the
completion of these studies, a moratorium remained in effect limiting Mexican
truck travel into the U.S. to the “20 mile commercial zone”.
The implementation of the transportation provisions of NAFTA is now imminent
as the FMCSA prepares to lift the travel moratorium. Commercial vehicles
(trucks and buses) from Mexico and the U.S. will be allowed to travel freely in
each other’s country once these provisions are implemented. Currently, these
vehicles are limited to travel into each other’s country to a 20 mile commercial
zone.
The following bullets discuss the anticipated emissions and air quality impacts of
the increased Mexican commercial vehicle travel into the U.S. and specifically
California. It is important to note that these impacts are from various studies
and many assumptions underlie them. Actual emissions and air quality
impacts will be determined once NAFTA is fully implemented."



This is turning into a big issue right now, when so many eyes are watching Gen. Petraeus and his Iraq Report.