Neanderpundit

Dirtcrasher, regular commenter, has not had a link here and has not asked for one, but he deserves one. Remedied. Folks, if you have a blog and I don’t link to it, let me know and i will. URL in comments.

Also, look at HJ Popowski’s site. I don’t know what “fathom the bowl” means, but it looks like interesting stuff is there. Got a blog, Mr Popowski?

Gesundheit!

In 1980 I began my machinist’s apprenticeship at Inland Steel. I worked in the Coke Plant. While I was working there, the EPA was continually trying to shut the Coke Plant down.

You see, Inland was spending millions to try to comply with emissions standards, and they weren’t able to comply, yet.

Oh, they were making headway- from the time I started, to the time i quit, there was a HUGE change in emissions. To a point where we were no longer required to wear dust masks in areas where they had been mandatory before, etc.

Inland projected they’d meet EPA emissions standards in ten years, the EPA required four, and they eventually managed to shut them down. Took a while, but other metallurgical grade coke processes eventually came on line, and have taken up the load, but the damage to the steel industry in North America was extensive.

Now, once closed, the metallurgical-grade coke facilities in the US started to be scrapped out. And the scrap was put on ships. And those ships took it to China. I saw this with my own eyes.

China took that scrap, and you know what they did with it? they reassembled it into their own metallurgical-grade coke facilitiies.

All except the emissions shit. They melted that shit down and sold the steel.

The chinese had no intention of paying any attention to environmental restrictions. here’s a plant that was at Inland and ended up in China.

No fume hoods, no exhaust stacks with air scrubbers, no electrostatic discharge cleaning towers, no enclosed guide cars, just open coke ovens venting their pollutant to atmosphere. Not even a respirator for the poor bastard who has to stand there and work on it. Just nothing.

SO the EPA is directly responsible for the crappy air quality in Beijing, and don’t you forget it.

We got some requirements about pants.

Now, I like to have a little room, and I totally understand what LBJ is saying about the crotchal region.

But the zippers.

Jesus, why can’t anyone get the damned zippers right?

I’m not a small guy by any stretch of anyone’s imagination- but about every other pair of dress pants I buy- even khakis, for godsake- have zippers about three inches long.

yeah, three inches from the belt down.

If I wear my pants around my waist, the bottom of the zipper is still four inches above Mr Happy. I have to pull my goddamned pants down on my hips like an asscrack exhibiting ghetto kid to be able to get at the business end of my business. Sometimes I just give up and find a stall and sit. Damn, I’d pay extra for the extra length of zipper, what’s the big goddamned deal?