TRIP.
TRIP advocates a sane alternative to the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.
Of late I have been surprised a time or two to see my blog being re-posted by some entity other than myself.
Last night it was TRIP which surprised me.
TRIP has a blog on which I found my blog.
I likely told the TRIP people to feel free to use anything they want of my stuff. What made this use of my stuff interesting is my stuff was "enhanced." Arguably for the better.
For example, the opening sentence says....
From “Durango, Texas”, Saturday, July 9, 2011, where he asks, “Don’t algae and amoebas like it when the water gets warm like this?”
What I actually said was...
Is the Trinity River turning green due to the water warming up, due to the HOT weather, causing algae and other bad stuff to grow?
Now, when I wrote the above, I tried to think of another thing that grows in hot water. Amoebas did not occur to me. So I used the banal "bad stuff." I would have used amoebas had it occurred to me, just for the alliteration alone.
And then, under the ad for Rockin' the River on my blog, I have no caption. TRIP added the following caption...
Float in various germs, contaminants, bio-hazards and turds.
I would not have written this because the word "turds" is not in my vocabulary. I believe "turds" is Texas-speak for fecal matter.
The last 2 sentences in my blogging about Rockin' the River were...
Are J.D. Granger and his mom, Kay, going to be in the Trinity River on Thursday? If not, why not?
After those last 2 sentences TRIP repeated some of what I had written, including the 2 above sentences, and then added a lot more, which is pretty good verbiage, but not quite what I'd say, in the way I'd say it.
You can read the TRIP augmentations below...
WARNING! DO NOT BECOME A FLOATER IN THE TRINITY! ELEVATED FECAL COLIFORM BACTERIA CONDITIONS PRESENT!
Are J.D. Granger and his mom, Kay, going to be in the Trinity River on Thursday? If not, why not? When our ‘friends in the government’ are trying to persuade folks that all is great in the Trinity. In fact, grab a tube and join them in a float down the river! PLEASE remember this:
* This is a media stunt, aimed at showing people having fun in the ‘clean enough’ waters of the Trinity ONLY!
* These promoters care LITTLE for your health and well-being, apparently.
* This is a taxpayer funded frat party (complete with drink specials for those that participate)
* Federal and state studies warn us NOT to eat fish caught in the Trinity due to elevated PCB levels (a known carcinogen) and other harmful legacy (aka – BANNED) chemicals.
* Industrial and agricultural waste runoff have only INCREASED since those tests
* This portion of the Trinity is home to alligator gar and more importantly a growing population alligators. They don’t mind sludgy, polluted swamps. They have thick skin and murky water makes it easier for them to do their hunting.
* Did we mention that this frat party was being paid for BY YOU?!?!? Did you sign up to pay for this?
Real flood control is being ignored, water cleanup is claimed as unneeded and your health is at risk. Demand some accountability!
I have no idea who I have to thank for so greatly enhancing my meager words. So, I'll just thank TRIP.
Ooops... I thought you were going to be pissed when I began reading this. I admit that I did play fast and loose with your actual written word - and used the word "turds"... However, "elevated fecal coliform levels" just doesn't have the zing of 'turds' to me. To each his own.
ReplyDeleteBut, in the future, I'll make sure that I'll more adequately quote you and make sure I let folks know I'm paraphrasing where appropriate!