Lisa was ill last week.

Here is an offering

by Guest Writer Roseanne Staab

Well...

...that’s a deep subject

Someone should invent a combustible engine that runs on rice crispies.

A two or four-cycle engine that runs on the tasty little cereal could solve a lot of financial and environmental woes.

It could be a true rice-burner, but made right here in the USA.

Poor folks who are out of work because their job went to China would have a break from their diet of popcorn and hot dogs, as crispies can be consumed by humans, as well.

I know the oil companies would put the kai-bosh on it, or scramble to "invent" some exotic, expensive, super-fuel to ease the public into the idea that rice is rare, hard to obtain and even more difficult to refine.

I mean, as I sit and listen to the crackling crispies and pour some Canadian-imported milk over them, does anyone besides me wonder how these expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are being funded?

The expense of flying troop planes overseas, transporting tanks and aircraft, along with Humvees and food supplies, is beyond my pea-brained comprehension.

The endless years of supplying fuel to all this weaponry, as they patrol and fly over land scape while fighting insurgents, as the American tax-payer becomes the American jobless claim-statistic, is making our Founding Fathers roll over in their graves.

I feel that our arrogant Congressional leaders should be held much more accountable to We the People, in that facts and figures should be released on a quarterly basis, informing the public about costs of war fuel, food and weaponry.

I know they sure do release the death stats on our good soldiers when those gruesome figures come in, while patting themselves on the back for voting themselves another raise.

I know Congress is all too eager to release tweets and pics of their private parts, behind their wives’ backs, prompting me to add a twist to my Frankly Porcine dinner by calling it "Weiner a la Pymatuning."

Again, much rolling over by the Founding Fathers.

Who is paying for these wars? Why is gasoline so expensive?

Did you know that the $4.00 per gallon gasoline at the pump is now infused with ethanol?

I don’t recall any press releasing, government-do-gooder informing me that there is now approximately 10% ethanol in gasoline, and that it is gunking-up 2 and 4 cycle motors, such as your car, chainsaw and lawn mower.

There is even a product to buy that you can pour into your tank, to "cure ethanol problems," such as gummy gaskets, sluggishness and other mechanical ills due to using a fuel in an engine it wasn’t designed for.

Apparently the oil wells in Brazil, Venzuela and Saudi Arabia are just getting primed; it would seem that the Earth’s core is one entirely made of fossilized creatures turned to crude.

If supply is abundant, the Fed continues to freeze interest rates and Obama claims the economy is rebounding, why is it that after the electric and water bill, grocery bill, school, state and income taxes, rent and car payment, at my $7.00 per hour service job, we are paying $4.00 per gallon for fuel, and I’m eating hot dogs and popcorn for dinner every night?

Well, the high price of gas and oil is a deep subject.

If you’ll look in other newspaper publications or watch the local news on tv, you will see the ongoing issue of the Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling in Pennsylvania.

This deep subject is revolving around Hydraulic Fracturing or, the "fracking" process in which chemicals, sand and 2 to 7 million gallons of water are blasted deep within the earth to free the natural gas inside the shale.

Land leases to gas companies are enabling farmers and land owners to earn huge amounts of money by allowing gas wells to be drilled.

Washington County, south of Pittsburgh, has thousands of them, and citizens are now concerned about purity of drinking water in wells.

Did you know that Pennsylvania is the largest gas-drilling state that does not tax that industry?

Millions of dollars in tax revenue are being lost year after year because there is no gas industry tax.

Governor Ed Rendell first proposed a gas drilling tax back in 2009, but Republican resistance left it hanging.

Current Governor Tom Corbett, a Republican, opposes a gas industry tax, but states that, "he would oppose it anyway, even though the industry donated $1,000,000.00 to [his ] election campaign."

Corbett has even suggested to colleges and universities that he will be cutting their programs and funding for his budget, but that they should, " invite gas well drillers to campus and use wells to generate funds."

On Tuesday, June 7, 2011, protesters gathered in Harrisburg to accuse government of being unable to protect the public health and the environment, call for tougher laws or an outright ban on "fracking" and natural gas well drilling.

The film "Gasland," written and directed by Josh Fox, was up for a 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary.

It profiles the Hydraulic Fracturing process in natural gas well drilling, and follows several families in their sagas dealing with the aftermath of fracking.

A gas well drilling company had approached Fox and his family to sign a lease, over in Milanville, Pa., for a whopping $100, 000.00 on their land.

Other families in eastern Pa. are experiencing severe problems with their water wells after gas wells have been drilled. Water that bubbles like Alka Seltzer coming out of the tap, or water that can be lit on fire are common occurrences.

The "fracking" process is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act inside the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Cattle are becoming sick, people are becoming sick, foliage is dying and the noise from the wells is like, "airplane engines running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

Water wells are at risk of permanent contamination and citizens are STRONGLY URGED to consult a lawyer before signing any lease with a gas drilling company.

The township of North Shenango is offering rental of "Gasland" to any citizen who may wish to view it.

Gas well drillers have told these Supervisors that they plan on pumping water directly out of Pymatuning Lake for the fracking process.

No water, no life.

It would appear that natural gas wells are, indeed, another deep subject as are private water wells.

Please read my column in the Community News, "Horsin Around," the title of the article is called "The Kiss of Life," and it is number ten on the list.

It explains the very, very valuable importance of fresh water for humans and animals alike; it really is the kiss of life.

Many underground streams and aquifers are used as drinking water and if these become contaminated due to chemical infusion, you won’t be able to even eat hot dogs or popcorn for dinner, let alone anything else.

Think about it, you can’t eat sand and chemicals.

To say that water is the next upcoming, precious commodity would be the understatement of the decade.

Why else has Dubbya bought an entire watershed in South America, yes, the entire thing.

Be careful, fellow American citizens, be very careful.

Marcellus Shale gas well drilling appears almost nightly on the news; Supervisors up in North East tried to ban it all together, as did a township down in Washington County.

Our government has severely limited what our townships can do to protect us, and there has not been enough research done to see the environmental hazards.

A growing number of lawmakers want fees imposed on the gas industry for Pa., but Guvna Corbett says he wants to hear first from his self-appointed Fox and Hen House Commission, er, uh, I meant the self-appointed Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, when they report back to him.

This due by July 22, 2011, after the June 30th deadline for legislators to approve the state budget.

There was an old song out a few years ago about a root beer-loving reptile, I believe it was called "Sneaky Snake."

Oil wells, gas wells and water wells, deep subjects, all. Citizens are urged to stay alert on these important issues, as the world needs more lerts.

I’m sure some gas well executive is enjoying a sumptuous steak with his Congressional dinner guests at some exclusive restaurant, toasting to their profit margins with a nice, cold glass of fresh water.

A sly wink to the Congressman with a promise to donate generously to his re-election campaign, while a sly wink in return promises no gas tax, no bans and no repeal to the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Well, it looks like they have it all taken care of.

Well, it looks like my Wieners a la Pymatuning are ready, as is my popcorn.

That’s a deep subject, I can hardly wait.