Photographs Of Sharon #1 Posted -- October 18, 2015; First Snowfall In Vermont This Season

A reader sent a few photos of Sharon #1 -- they have been posted.

This gives me an opportunity to thank my readers for their patience with me: I post a lot of political stuff and a lot of stuff about my granddaughters, but despite all that, they all stick with me. Much appreciated. I post the other stuff to help put the Bakken into perspective and to keep the blog interesting. The primary purpose of the blog, of course, is to help folks understand the Bakken.

By the way, on those Sharon photos that have just been posted, I noted the wonderful scenery in the background -- and no snow. It looked like a beautiful day in the Bakken to be taking a drive.

Speaking of which ... posts about things other than the Bakken --- first snowfall in Vermont this season --- open those natural gas pipelines --- heat those homes.

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A Must-Read, Non-Bakken Story

There is an incredibly poignant story in The Bismarck Tribune:

On Saturday, wounded veteran Cpl. Mark Haegele raised a flag over his new house. Then, with his wife, Kari and 7-month-old daughter, Kinley, he cut the ribbon on the entrance and rolled in for a tour.

Haegele served a little more than two months in Afghanistan, working demolition, until April 21, 2011, when an improvised explosive device detonated underneath him, taking both legs and causing hearing loss and injuries to both arms.

Now, he has received a mortgage-free home, courtesy of the organization Homes For Our Troops, their partner builder, Patriot Homes, and many donors.

"You don't really expect it, that people care so much," said Haegele, who has been living, with his family, in an apartment, which he admits can be a struggle, especially when he is trying to make his favorite snack of Ramen noodles on a stove that is too high. "A lot of stuff in the apartment is impractical for a guy in a wheelchair."

The new home contains wider doorways to accommodate Haegele's wheelchair, lower countertops, pull-down shelving and an easy-to-reach stove. But Haegele says he is most looking forward to the bathroom, which has lots of space and a large, roll-in shower.

"The planning (for the home) rolled out perfectly," said Tory Otto, the owner of Patriot Homes and a disabled veteran. "Every feature is top-notch .... The construction staff were good to work with and extremely knowledgeable."

HFOT community outreach voordinator Brianne McNamara said this is the first home in North Dakota to be built by HFOT.

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Wake-Up Call

Nothing About The Bakken

Another Rant

This is what happens when ideology gets in the way of facts/science. Being reported in The Los Angeles Times: Governor Brown's link between climate change and wildfires is unsupported, fire experts say.

The ash of the Rocky fire was still hot when Gov. Jerry Brown strode to a bank of television cameras beside a blackened ridge and, flanked by firefighters, delivered a battle cry against climate change.

The wilderness fire was "a real wake-up call" to reduce the carbon pollution "that is in many respects driving all of this," he said.

"The fires are changing.... The way this fire performed, it's not the way it usually has been. Going in lots of directions, moving fast, even without hot winds."

"It's a new normal," he said in August. "California is burning."

Brown had political reasons for his declaration.

He had just challenged Republican presidential candidates to state their agendas on global warming. He was embroiled in a fight with the oil industry over legislation to slash gasoline use in California. And he is seeking to make a mark on international negotiations on climate change that culminate in Paris in December.

But scientists who study climate change and fire behavior say their work does not show a link between this year's wildfires and global warming, or support Brown's assertion that fires are now unpredictable and unprecedented. There is not enough evidence, they say.

The risk is that money and resources will be appropriated for the wrong things for the wrong reasons due to ideology, not reason. While appropriating money and resources to lower carbon emissions, less emphasis is placed on what really needs to be done to protect personal property.

Interestingly enough this was the lead story, front page, above the fold, in The Los Angeles Times, perhaps the most ideological-political newspaper with readership second to none. I never would have expected to see this in the LA Times, much less on the front page, much less the headline story.