The shooting of the United ….
The shooting of the United Healthcare CEO is a tragedy but it does bring to the forefront the broken nature of the American healthcare system. No one should have to be without the proper health care and no one should have to stay sick or even die because they don’t have the money to get the help they need. No one should have to get shot to make change happen. We have moved in the right direction but it has been very slow and more people will be suffering until we can truly have healthcare “for all” in the United States. [Editor’s Note: Well, we were told by President-elect Trump that he has “concepts of a plan” when it comes to health care, but that’s not particularly reassuring to be honest. When you say “very slow,” you’re not joking. I vividly remember very early in Bill Clinton’s first presidential term, he and Hillary standing on a stage speaking about the idea of “universal healthcare,” and the First Lady holding up what looked like a credit card that was supposedly be given to every American so that they could have access to healthcare regardless of income or location. Well, that was 30 years ago, so we haven’t really made much progress there. But you’re right… your health and well being should in no way be tied to how much money you make] Arkansans put high value on maintaining good water quality in our rivers and streams – especially the Buffalo National River. Back in 2012, when C& H Hog Farms, a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) with 2,500 brood sows weighing a million pounds, suddenly appeared along a tributary of the Buffalo National River, everyone’s question was how did we not know this was happening and what should we do about it? Eventually, after years of legal fighting, the hog farm lost its permit in 2018 and then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson engineered a 6.2 million dollar buyout. The hog waste in two large ponds was shipped to Missouri, and the pond was bulldozed over. The Department of Environmental Quality declared a moratorium on any further medium or large hog CAFO’s in the Buffalo River watershed. Case closed; river protected? Not really. On Thursday, Dec. 19, the Administrative Rules Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council will vote on whether the moratorium will continue. But that is not all. The current oversight of hog CAFO’s resides in the livestock and poultry division of the Agriculture Department. How would you know if your neighbor proposed a 10,000 sow operation next to your property or in the Buffalo River watershed? They want only listing a notice on an obscure AG department website which would require daily study. No newspaper postings, no county judges notified, no school districts notified. This proposal is part of a larger trend to keep public information limited – like the new prison proposal. The AG department seeks rules committee approval of this limited notice in the Dec. 19 meeting. Please support much wider public notification. Attend the meeting and express your opinion and/or alert your representatives to the problem.
[Editor’s Note: There’s actually a lot of other shady stuff going on with potential threats to the status of the Buffalo National River and potential development along it, but it’s way outside of my wheelhouse. But in any event, definitely keep your eyes on this situation and I’ll report on any developments I catch word of]
