This is Mr Lincoln Augustus, first second cousin of...

This is Mr Lincoln Augustus, first second cousin of Holymagiman

It is coming up to 9 pm on a warm Kingston night here, and we are just sitting around, smoking the smoke and chitting the chat, and thinking about things that need to be thought.

Things are kind of quiet here, now that Mr Dudas Coke has gone off to the mainland to speak to some gentlemen there who have been wanting to be speaking to him for a whiles.

So, as I was saying, things are quiet here, with no back stabbing and no pulling off the chairs from below the bottom just as one is getting set to sit down.

We could not help but see that the Cougar is having some trouble with the benzene in the water. Baboo is telling us that the DERM in Queensland has acted most quickly following advice received by the department on 13 July from Cougar Energy that water quality tests taken on 29 June detected benzene and toluene in groundwater monitoring bores close to the plant.

No matter that Cougar informed them that all was well and not to worry BEFORE they ordered the closure. Strange, very strange.

Alvin the Idiot, who has some brains so to speak, somewhere, is telling us that people got to be more concerned about the benzene in the cigarettes they smoke, and that all this talk about benzene and toulene pollution is a furphy, a big political beat-up.

So that's what we told Alvin, that he is just a simple idiot and he is mighty upset. He has looked into his new Commodore 128 and gone to that DERM site at:

http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/environmental_management/air/air_quality_monitoring/air_pollutants/organic_pollutants.html

Here's the gist of the article:

BENZENE

Benzene is an aromatic hydrocarbon compound. It occurs naturally in fossil fuels and is released into the atmosphere as a result of natural processes, and human activities that involved the combustion of organic matter, such as wood, coal, and petroleum products.

Petrol vehicle emissions are the predominant source of benzene in the environment, although industries such as petroleum refining and steel works can also contribute to overall levels. Evaporative losses from petroleum fuels storage facilities and service stations is another means by which benzene enters the air environment.

TOBACCO SMOKE CONTAINS BENZENE AND ACCOUNTS FOR APPROXIMATELY 50 PERCENT OF A PERSON'S TOTAL EXPOSURE.

Health effects
At typical ambient concentrations, benzene does not have any short-term or acute health effects. However long-term exposure to benzene has been linked to an increased incidence of blood and immune system disorders including anaemia and leukaemia

AIR QUALITY GOAL

There is currently no Australian air quality goal for benzene. The United Kingdom air quality strategy objective for BENZENE IS AN ANNUAL AVERAGE OF 5PPB.

TOULENE

Toluene occurs naturally in crude oil and is also generated by combustion of organic matter such as wood, coal and petroleum products. Motor vehicle emissions are the predominant source of toluene in the urban air environment, although evaporative losses from petroleum fuels storage facilities and service stations and the use of toluene based solvents and thinners are other contributors.

Toluene is a component of TOBACCO SMOKE.

THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATIONS OF TOLUENE USUALLY OCCUR IN INDOOR AIR FROM THE USE OF HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS CONTAINING TOLUENE (PAINTS, THINNERS AND ADHESIVES) AND CIGARETTE SMOKE.

Health effects
Health effects associated with toluene exposure primarily relates to central nervous system impairment. There is no evidence that toluene is carcinogenic. Toluene has been linked to hormonal imbalances, which may affect reproduction and foetal development. These effects have only been observed at exposure concentrations significantly higher than typical outdoor levels, either through occupational exposure or deliberate solvent abuse.

AIR QUALITY GOAL

The EPP (Air) goal for toluene is a MAXIMUM CONCENTRATION OF 2000 PPB OVER A 24-HOUR PERIOD.


So we are talking about what this all means and we cannot seem to get much sense from all that is happening.

Alvin is an Idiot. That is an accepted fact, no ifs or buts about that. So we say it again, ALVIN IS AN IDIOT.

So if an idiot could figure out things so easily, that that level of pollution, if it existed, was of insignificant consequence, then questions have to be raised about the people who make decisions.

Like why were Cougar's corrected pollutant figures not considered before the plant was shut down? Curiouser and curiouser, that's for sure.

So we sit here and smoke the fine Jamaica Numba One that Holy is making for us. I must mention that since Dudas has gone, Holy's business has picked up no end. It goes without saying that quality finds its own level, and I can assure you that this Jamaica Numba One is top quality, the best of the best, so to speak.

And Baboo has just mentioned that you Australians are having an election pretty soon and that whoever gets to capture the Queensland votes gets to run the country. We find that hard to believe, seeing as how your Queensland is not even shown on Uncle Remus'e "Greater Chinese Atlas of the World, 4th Edition, 7th reprint" . We have always thought Queensland to be some sort of an insignificant dot in the background, lie a weed in a lawn so to speak, and it is news to us to find out that it is bigger. Learn something new everyday.

Now that is most interesting, because if your Greenies are like our Greenies, then they are going to be saving the world and will vote for anyone who acknowledges their existence along the way. Good at times, bad at others, especially if their votes were bein manipulated by ill concieved misconceptions.

And what better way to court a Green than to be seen to be closing down a toxic polluting company? No matter if the toxic polluting company is not actually toxic or polluting.

Play to the crowd and you will get the cheers. That is a fact of life.

It has happened before, in many a third world country, that a company may be skewered in the process, shareholders may lose money, but if the state can be carried by a politically expedient sideshow and the Party returned to power, then it is a tiny price to pay. And there are not many first world countries around, apart from Jamaica. And we are telling you so.

It does appear to us here that Baboo has a point and that maybe the whole exercise could well be politically motivated, but that is just our opinion, and we are but poor uneducated Jamaicans who know little about the way of the world.

On reflection, it would be nice to know that the whole exercise was politically motivated, because the only other option to consider is that the people running the show know even less than Alvin the Idiot. And that would be scary, Very very scary.

Blessing of the Lord
MLA