Thanks, tommy!

No prob.

I think we may have gotten hosed off by the babas who had encased us in mud. Moldovans are not as shy about nudity as Americans. The mineral baths had minimal privacy, and one of my fellow (male) volunteers went around taking pictures. That dude liked to be naked more than anyone I've ever known.

Connie, that's horrible.

The polluted water comes from a drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," in which millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are blasted into each well to fracture tightly compacted shale and release trapped natural gas.

Yeah, well, the shale isn't all they're frakking.

But fracking a horizontal well requires huge amounts of water — up to 5 million gallons per well, compared with 50,000 gallons in some conventional wells.

And here's another question - are they using *potable* water for the "fracking?" Because that alone is a horrifying waste. They better be using treated water from waste treatment plants.

Once the rock is fractured, some of the water — estimates range from 15 to 40 percent — comes back up the well.

When it does, it can be five times saltier than seawater and laden with dissolved solids such as sulfates and chlorides, which conventional sewage and drinking water treatment plants aren't equipped to remove.

Duh. That's not going to cause any problems, nooo...

No harm to aquatic life was reported, though high levels of salts and other minerals can kill fish and other creatures, regulators say.

Who's monitoring the wildlife, how are they monitoring, and are they monitoring indicator species?

I can't really spill -- it will be public information at some point.

Fine, be a tease! ;) We wait anxiously.

Moldovans are not as shy about nudity as Americans.

I never found this to be true of my Moldovan friend! Although I can't say I've ever been in a nudity-appropriate situation with her....

A friend of mine just won a prize at Sundance for his film GASLAND which is about nefarious mining practices. [link]

I never found this to be true of my Moldovan friend! Although I can't say I've ever been in a nudity-appropriate situation with her....

My co-teacher stripped down to her bra in front of me four days after I met her. I walked in on my host mother bathing (we washed in a baby bathtub in the kitchen) and she was like "no big deal, we're both women." I saw several Moldovan men in their tidy whities (they're not big on boxers there). I don't know, I'm sure it varies from person to person and possibly from village to city, but that was my experience. I don't mean people just randomly went around naked, certainly not. Outside of one's front gate one was generally dressed quite well unless off to work in the fields.

OTOH, when my host mom attended semi-med school (don't think it was quite like US med school) the chapter on the reproductive system was independent study.

Trudy, that looks like a really fascinating movie.

the shale isn't all they're frakking.

As if my home county isn't plagued by mine subsidance as it is.

And here's another question - are they using *potable* water for the "fracking?" Because that alone is a horrifying waste. They better be using treated water from waste treatment plants.

Even Dinosaur Comics addressed the wasteful uses of potable water.

ION, have I mentioned how much I hate the NFL for not letting people use the phrase "Super Bowl" in, for instance, grocery store flyers about "stock up for THE BIG GAME"???

Because I hate it. Being forced to say "THE BIG GAME" just smacks of coyness, like, we know what sporting event we mean, and you know it, and we know you know, but we are TOO COOL to say it! (Even though the real reason is the mighty legal wrath of the NFL.)

Because...Trader Joe's using the phrase "Buy some nacho cheese for THE SUPER BOWL" is somehow taking money away from the impoverished NFL?

And, if you were the NFL, wouldn't you want your biggest fucking event of the year to actually be referred to by human beings other than your paid representatives? Not good marketing, doodz.

"The big game." Gimme a fucking break.

...and in retrospect, I didn't realize that I felt *that* strongly about it. BUT APPARENTLY I DO.