The other day, someone — and I'm sorry, I can't remember who — described Americans as "pacified." I've been thinking about that while watching and reading the news coming out of France. The people there have taken to the streets to protest the country's planned pension reforms.

From The New York Times:

Mr. Sarkozy said strikers and demonstrators blocking fuel depots did not have the right to “take hostage people who have nothing to do with it.” He was referring to 10 straight days of strikes at refineries and blockades of fuel depots that have left motorists struggling to find fuel. While the authorities said Tuesday there had been a “slow improvement” in fuel supplies with only 14 out of more than 200 depots still blockaded, service station operators said about a half of the country’s 13,000 gas stations were experiencing supply problems.

The crisis shows little immediate sign of ending and a final parliamentary vote on Mr. Sarkozy’s plan to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 seemed unlikely until the middle of next week.

Read the entire article, by Steven Erlanger, here.

Did you get that? The French government is trying to raise the retirement age by two years and the country's people have not only taken to the streets, they're shutting down businesses. Though, retiring a couple years later may not seem like a huge deal here, where people are praised for being workaholics and, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average retirement age is 62 — if we retire at all.

But what about all of the other things going down in our country? There is plenty to be outraged about if you'd only pay attention. We've got corporations trying to buy elections, with the Supreme Court's blessing. We've got giant polluters shrugging their shoulders as their customers succumb to cancer. We've got openly bigoted politicians. We've got an election coming up and voters are yawning. The gap between the extremely wealthy and what used to be the middle class is widening by the second. Our schools need money, and so do their teachers. The same banks that once pushed people into loans are now pushing people out of their homes. Our military is struggling in a 10-year-old war, but no one's being killed by drone attacks here so ... so what?

In case you haven't heard, geeks are the new cool kids. But, that's just one reason why you should mark your calendars for Central Piedmont Community College's next Geek Fest, slated for Nov. 10. Here's another: It's free.

From their website:

The Geek Fest is an exciting and eclectic annual celebration of the “geek” in all of us; an event designed to educate the hearts and minds of our students and community by highlighting and celebrating the creative and exciting innovations of new technology, media, and industry. Remember, geek is chic. It is no longer only limited to the technical aspects of life.

The theme of the Geek Fest is innovations in technology, in our college, and our community. In addition to showcasing many of CPCC’s programs, technologies, and resources, the Geek Fest features innovative regional and national businesses and their contributions to new technologies and the hottest fashions and styles. The Geek Fest highlights cutting edge technologies, hardware, software, gadgets, industries and styles.

So, go on ... get your geek on.

Sometimes great opportunities just fall into your lap, and when they do it's important to recognize them for what they are and seize the opportunity. Earlier this week, Bill Gupton, the director of the local Sierra Club, called and asked if I would like 15 minutes with the group's new executive director, Michael Brune. Knowing this may be a once-in-a-lifetime shot to sit down with the head of one of our nation's oldest and largest environmental organizations, I jumped at the chance.

Brune took on the challenge of leading the Sierra Club in March of this year, after working with Greenpeace and the Rainforest Action Network and writing the book Coming Clean: Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal.

He's currently touring the country, visiting with local Sierra Club groups and members. Yesterday, on the six-month anniversary of the Gulf Oil Spill, he spoke at Central Piedmont Community College about his plans for the organization's future.

But, before that, this is what he and I talked about:

First of all, he's very proud of the Sierra Club and of other environmental organizations for their work. While some people may look at the world's environmental issues and feel defeated, environmentalists often look at them and feel energized by the opportunities they present. For example: Since 2001, nearly 200 new coal plants were supposed to be built in our country. But, thanks to the work of environmentalists, 138 of them will not be built. This is huge, of course, since burning coal for fuel is an old, pollution-heavy way to keep the lights on. "That [defeating the proposed plants] is probably the biggest environmental victory of our generation," says Brune.

He realizes, however, the real challenge is to help people understand that environmental issues and human rights issues are often one and the same. Everyone wants clean air, water and safe environments for their families to live, work and play in, but many don't know how to advocate for such things. The trick, Brune explains, is to help people understand they're not powerless and that their actions — like choosing to use less electricity or recycle — can lead to lasting change.

"The question is: What will we base our 21st century economy on?" he asks. One way or another, we are going to be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in energy infrastructure in the near future. So, we must ask ourselves: Do we want to invest in old technology or new technology? In our effort to decide, we have to determine what the cleanest, cheapest, safest and quickest way to produce electricity is, and invest in those technologies. When you look at it like that, it's clear to Brune that solar and wind energy are the ways to go. But, we also have to help energy workers retain their jobs through training and make sure power companies are able to generate plenty of electricity and keep their books in the black.

Hate to break it to you, but we can no longer take our water for granted ... so stop wasting it.

From MSNBC.com:

Increasingly dry conditions across much of the globe — including the U.S. — are likely over the next 30 years, a new study predicts. Moreover, by the year 2100 drought in some regions could be unprecedented in modern times.

Increasing drought has long been forecast as a consequence of warming temperatures, but the study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research projects serious impacts as soon as the 2030s. Impacts by century's end could go beyond anything in the historical record, the study suggests.

"We are facing the possibility of widespread drought in the coming decades, but this has yet to be fully recognized by both the public and the climate change research community," study author Aiguo Dai said in a statement. "If the projections in this study come even close to being realized, the consequences for society worldwide will be enormous."

Read the entire article here.

While this is the type of news to get apocalypse watchers' panties in a wad, I'd like to challenge them, and everyone else, to find the passage in the Bible where God goes, "Ruin the planet through greed, excess and ignorance, then I'll swoop down and save you for doing such a great job."

Here's a peek at the documentary Blue Gold that explores the likelihood of future water wars:

Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.

Sometimes I want to shoot rubber bands at our politicians. Here's why: They can be serious morons. Let me ask you: Do you still have a home telephone or do you only use your cell phone? On either phone, do you screen your calls?

I ask because pollsters and politicians still conduct surveys like they did decades ago, by relying on potential voters to pick up their phones and answer a few questions. Well, the average citizen isn't having that nonsense these days. They're too busy to be bothered. Yet, pollsters are disregarding the cultural shift and pundits still squawk about the polls as if they're predicting the future through a crystal ball.

I take issue with this giant pile of shit for this reason: When you continually tell people elections are already decided, you're also telling them their votes don't matter. Though, the truth is elections are never decided until the voting booths close and the last vote is tallied. We don't have to look that far back in history to note that every vote does, in fact, count and can make a huge, huge difference. I mean, what if Al Gore had won in Florida in 2000? Seriously: What if?

I'm bringing this up because the Raleigh News & Observer ran a story this week about this very thing. Read it here.

But, hell, by all means, be sure to note that recent polls have Elaine Marshall bridging the gap between her and Richard "Party of No/I'll do whatever my party leaders tell me to do" Burr. For anyone who's not a corporate drone or super rich, for people who actually care about their children's education, women's rights and the environment — this is good news, even if the polls are flawed.

It's a reminder that candidates can make a different despite the failure of national parties (the Dems aren't being helpful in North Carolina races at all; they're too busy funding races in California, Nevada and Delaware). It's also a reminder that people are still supportive of political leaders who are true Washington outsiders and those who don't rely on corporations or puppet masters for survival in Washington's shark-infested political waters.

Further reading:

• Department of Justice Probing Texas Tea Partiers For Voter Intimidation — Talking Points Memo
• North Carolina Senate race tightening — DailyKos
• Don't follow the money — a New York Times op-ed by David Brooks about how money may not equal success in elections
• Rich conservatives plan summit — The Daily Beast

Here's some insight into how national polls work, and how they're adjusted:

Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.

• David Merryman, our Catawba Riverkeeper, and Katie Hicks, of NC Clean Water.

Last night's coal ash hearing, held by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), was well attended, though only 19 people spoke. That's not counting the state employee who introduced the hearing, which was offered so the public could comment on several pollution discharge permits the state reviews and renews every five years.

All in all, the hearing went as expected. In fact, many of the speakers who were at the EPA's hearing last month regarding federal regulations for coal ash also attended the state's hearing. There were a few new faces, though, like the man who lives next to the Marshall coal plant's coal ash ponds and said, "Duke Power is not a good neighbor."

The permits in question all belong to Duke Energy and the company's three coal plants on the Catawba River system near Charlotte: Marshall, Riverbend and Allen. The permits cover thermal pollution (which occurs when the company uses water to cool their plants, then dumps it back into the lakes) and drainage from four unlined coal ash ponds. The polluted water is discharged into Lake Norman from the Marshall plant, Mountain Island Lake from the Riverbend plant and Lake Wylie from the Allen plant.

While the drafts of the permits step up regulations slightly in some cases — for instance, the company will now be fined if groundwater contamination exceeds established standards, it maintains the status quo in other ways — like failing to limit the amount of arsenic that can be discharged into the lakes.

Keep in mind, the lakes were all built by Duke Energy so they could use them to cool its plants (both coal and nuclear) produce a bit of hydro-electric power and dilute their pollution. Still, according to our state's laws, the water belongs to the people — not the government or any company.

As with the EPA's hearing, employees who work for corporations directly impacted by the proposed regulations lobbied for lenient rules and everyone else lobbied for stronger rules. Of the 19 people who spoke, one Duke Energy employee was allowed to speak for 21 minutes (everyone else only got three), three other Duke employees spoke in favor of issuing the permits as is, one man with laryngitis made no sense at all and 15 citizens — including environmentalists, clergy, a representative from Charlotte-Mecklenburg's water quality department, scientists and a guy who says he's a ponzi scheme expert— spoke out in favor of strengthening the permits.

Arsenic and other heavy metals are routinely found in Mountain Island Lake (aka our drinking water) — but, depending on who you ask, it's not a big deal. Of course, this morning The Observer's Bruce Henderson is reporting that Gaston County (they also pump drinking water from Mountain Island Lake) admitted to finding arsenic and mercury in the sludge the county's cleaning out of their drinking water. It's unclear if Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities Department tests the sludge they're cleaning from the water they pump from the lake, and no one from their department spoke at last night's hearing ... neither did any elected officials.

Also keep in mind that the heavy metals included in coal ash can cause a variety of health problems ranging from learning disabilities to cancer. Additionally, the other issue being debated: the temperature of the water can lead to fish kills. C.D. Collins testified fish kills are a common occurrence near his home. Here's why: When the water heats up, its oxygen levels drop. Fish try to swim lower to colder, more oxygenated water and, not finding it, die. Collins' description of the fish kills produced the most interesting, and likely appropriate, word of the evening: stinkiest.

Something else debated at the hearing last night: Duke's current right to monitor itself. They're the first to tell you the groundwater wells they installed at Riverbend in December 2008, earlier at other plants, are monitored on a voluntary basis. (Note: The EPA told them to install them in 2000.) Company representatives also talk about how they monitor the fish and the heavy metal levels in the lake and carefully regulate the water's temperature and, as good neighbors, share all of that information with the state. That's nice of them, but as the ponzi scheme expert, Robert Fitzpatrick, pointed out, it's usually not a good idea to allow those with a vested interested in test results to monitor themselves.

NCDENR ended the hearing by promising a ruling on the permits within 90 days, or roughly by mid-January. I guess that's when we'll see if the state has our back, or Duke Energy's. Reminder: This is the same agency whose employees routinely say, "The solution to pollution is dilution."

Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.