Facebook Page in Support of H2O Man Is Up

[jsmirman]

I have created a facebook page to support Patrick's hunger strike.

It can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Support-H2O-Man-In-His-Fight-Against-Fracking/254892447917217

I am certain that I have made an utter hash of it, so all suggestions are welcome.

Please also promote it as you see fit.

Here is the accompanying text:

HE SPEAKS FOR THE LAND - PATRICK'S HUNGER STRIKE

In one corner, stands former amateur boxing superstar, Patrick McElligott, father, concerned citizen, and servant of the public good; in the other corner, oil and gas companies and all the power and money they can bring to bear.

In the balance - New York State's Southern Tier and the health and safety of our neighbors.

Patrick began a hunger strike on Martin Luther King Day to protest the headlong rush to hydrofrack the Southern Tier without anything resembling a proper study of the potential effects of this assault on the land.

Patrick, who among his many public works has assisted the EPA, served the Onondaga Nation's Council of Chiefs in their quest for clean water, and fought against racial hate crimes, has a simple list of demands.

He wants Governor Cuomo, State Senator Tom Libous, and other local officials to engage him in a dialog. It doesn't seem like an unreasonable demand to ask his elected representatives for a conversation. It doesn't seem unreasonable to ask for a pause and ample consideration of a course of action with such potentially disastrous consequences.

If you are so inclined, please pass on the word about Patrick's fight. In this time of corporate hegemony, it is not easy for one concerned voice to wend its way out from the near-bottomless chasm. Do not let Patrick go unheard. He speaks for the land - because someone must.

Read more about Patrick's cause at:

http://www.truth-out.org/clearing-stands-boxer-one-mans-fight-against-fracking/1326401455

[Luminous Animal]

1. Thank you for doing this.

[jsmirman]

3. I think I had to

if one man can be that brave, I've got to think I should do something so little.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I think it looks great.

I just "liked" it.

Well done!

[jsmirman]

4. Thanks so much

the last thing I want to do is screw this up for Patrick, so I'm crossing my fingers that I haven't made any egregious errors!

[Suich]

5. Looks good to me!

Nice job!

[jsmirman]

6. Thanks

I'm going to sleep in a few minutes, and I'm a little terrified of what I'll wake up to.

I went through all my fb friends in that page they have for choosing who to send it to, and I realized how many of those people were, of all things, actually friends.

I don't want to offend anyone unintentionally (boy, I guess that says something, considering how reckless I am online occasionally, in that regard), but with Patrick putting it on the line so bravely...

[onestepforward]

7. Good job!

[sabrina 1]

8. Great job jsmirman. Just tweeted it.

[DesertFlower]

9. i just "liked" it.

[jsmirman]

10. Thanks so much for helping me help support...

tweeting it, screaming it from our windows, telling our friends about it - we have to fight against their hope that Patrick can be quietly silenced.

It's great to see the likes counter slowly go up, and tweeting it is just awesome.

This seems like the type of thing that maybe we can all come together over. Anything we can do to help one of our own, who is just trying to help in his corner of the world.

[Norrin Radd]

11. kr

[leveymg]

12. KNR for H2O Man

[Odin2005]

13. Awesome, thanks!

[jsmirman]

14. You're very welcome - anything we can do

to help support his message, it seems like we should do.

[WilliamPitt]

15. Excellent.

[jsmirman]

18. I'm glad it looks alright to you

I think something may have gotten screwed up in the page making process, as I just had to re-invite a bunch of friends. Ah, facebook.

[uppityperson]

16. Good job. Next thing is to keep posting any stories you can find about H20Man and about fracking.

Do some entries on fracking, what it is, why we don't like it, etc. Good job.

[jsmirman]

19. Please ANY Suggestions for articles, etc.

very welcome.

I am far from an expert on fracking - but I felt a moral imperative to do this.

All I know about fracking can be summarized with the following:

- It sure seems like there have been explosions/earthquakes and discoveries of contamination of the groundwater in places that fracking has been done

- One of the most shameful actions that we, as a country, serving as stewards of the environment, regularly take is that we allow potentially catastrophic damage to the environment without a long enough or thorough enough review process to examine the possible effects of corporate actions

- Contamination of the groundwater sure seems like a reasonable possibility - poo lagoons (from CAFOs) with their plastic barriers pretty much *always* leak and their foul poison gets into the groundwater

- There is at least one study that has found a link between fracking and explosions/contamination of the groundwater

- Prudence over an unthinking rush to profit is always the right thing

- The process sounds like something that is at least facially dangerous enough that how can you not exhaustively study its consequences before allowing it

I may be leaving a few things out, but I'm not sure I know more than this. So please, any scientists among us who want to contribute to the page, any suggestions of reliable, preferably peer-reviewed studies or well-conceived articles on the subject - all these are things I could really use.

[The Straight Story]

17. Thanks, liked the page (nt)

[Major Hogwash]

20. We need daily updates!! Daily!

This is Day 5, how's he doing??

[jsmirman]

23. William has been providing updates

I haven't seen one yet today - but look for William Pitt's posts

[WilliamPitt]

25. DU gets updates when I get them from him.

I sent him the link to the FB page, however. He approves.

[jsmirman]

26. That is so great to hear

I was terribly worried I wouldn't get it right.

[WilliamPitt]

29. Spot on.

[jsmirman]

34. William - with your permission

I think I should post the updates you post here to the page?

This seems to make sense.

[EFerrari]

21. Kick

[jsmirman]

22. I saw your message

what a wonderful gesture of support!

[bigwillq]

24. Just "liked" it

Good Luck, Patrick! And thank you for your effort.

[jsmirman]

27. Thanks

also crossing my fingers for this weekend (see your avatar)

And yes, I think so many of us are so grateful for the extraordinary effort Patrick is making on behalf of doing the right thing.

[sabrina 1]

28. Kick for H2OMan n/t

[JackRiddler]

30. Kick and thanks for making this page and thanks to H2O Man!

[myrna minx]

31. K&R for Patrick.

[Canuckistanian]

32. Done. Liked and Shared.

Thanks for posting.

[ellisonz]

33. Liked. n/t

[MuseRider]

35. Liked and thank you. n/t

[ellisonz]

36. Kick.

[stlsaxman]

37. Kicked, Recc'ed & Shared...

[ellisonz]

38. Kick.

[jsmirman]

39. With apologies, I'm bumping this

there just can't be much that is more important than keeping our water clean, and there can't be anything more wrong than poisoning the water that our neighbors rely on in their daily lives.

[jsmirman]

40. I think I'm going to start direct messaging friends

that "invite" feature on FB seems weak.

I know a number of them would care about this, and they have pretty good contact networks, too.

[EFerrari]

42. Have you considered using the Occupy network?

It's a natural, imho.

[jsmirman]

43. this feels like asking for a password

what's the best way to reach out in that direction?

I'm here in DC, holed up at law school, and my feelings on occupy are reasonably complicated.

The easiest thing I can say there is that, believe me, I'm rooting for them, and I'm down for any ways I can stand up for their rights when those rights are (and have been) trampled on, but it gets complicated from that point on. Their basic reason for existence and what they are opposed to - can't give that a stronger hell yes, though.

I think you're right that they are a natural here, though. Patrick needs a megaphone. The idea of these folks refusing to listen to him and just hoping he goes away so they can play "where's the poison" with someone else's home - makes me very angry.

I've certainly got friends who are occupying, but what's the most effective way to get Patrick's story to Occupy?

[EFerrari]

45. Well, I tweeted @occupy_albany a link to Will's piece

on Sunday, iirc, and their media team graciously sent it back out. I think it's mostly a matter of contacting Occupy in an honest way, i.e., your local folks and inviting Pat's supporters to do the same. It won't be an instrument like a megaphone but it may be something much better, like enlarging the community of people that engage.

The good news is, you're not proposing marriage but just alerting Occupy to a situation they might be interested in. And it gets done a group at a time. But, hey, we probably have people right here at DU that are connected to many of the Occupy groups and that can help ring up that network.

[jsmirman]

46. Occupiers!!! Please assist!

LOL

The folks I know are in Occupy Philly, and I will definitely contact them -

I suppose I might make a separate post to ask for Occupiers to spread the word -

I'm jammed work-wise the next day or so, but I'm going to start reaching out to FB friends in groups of 4 to tell them this is really important.

Thanks for the response.

[jsmirman]

44. EF - kicking in hopes you see this

was looking for the best way to engage that network

[jsmirman]

41. William - please confirm that I can post your updates to the page

many thanks

[jannyk]

47. K&R!