Coloring outside the lines

It may not come as a great shock to those who read this blog that as a child I did not always color within the lines. In fact, I often very deliberately drew and colored outside the lines -- changing the fashions, hairstyles, gender and race in the Dick and Jane-style illustrations in my coloring books at will.

So, imagine how much fun I would have had with this propaganda piece coloring book:


In it, "Talisman Terry" the "friendly Fracosaurus" explains the wonders of natural gas and fracking with a big, happy face. No mean, old, inconvenient fracking concerns are allowed as the book is published by Talisman Energy. You can view the entire book here and the Post-Gazette article about it here.

I've already started coloring my copy:


I think all parents should download a copy and educate their children as to what's missing from the book so that they can add fracking ponds, exploding rigs, fireballs in sinks, ripped-up roads, etc. to the pretty, pretty pictures and mail them back to Talisman Energy.

Keep coloring outside the lines!


(h/t to Doug Shields)

In the dark

When a neighborhood in San Bruno, California was decimated by a giant fireball from an exploding natural gas pipeline last month, you probably assumed that the company which operated the pipeline had a plan for such emergencies (correct) and that the plan was open for review by local government officials and first responders, industry watchdogs and the public (wrong).

Apparently, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) doesn't require these companies to provide them with copies of these plans so no one can request to see the plans under any sort of sunshine laws -- including the city, county and state governments wherein the pipelines reside.

The PHMSA merely visit the plans at the offices of these companies.

Isn't that special?
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