This morning, around 1:00 am it started snowing a light fluffy snow and soon turned into an inch. The snow fell the roads became very slippery because our citizens who have to work to make ends meet packed the snow onto the cold road surface.

Time went on and the first accident was reported, a car slipped into a tree. A water truck caring water to a gas well site slid off the road and caused damage.

Seems simple, as we all slept. However it is not at all simple. Our state was becoming over thrown by a few flakes of snow. The state fines anyone who causes an accident 110 dollars or some such amount! As we slept there were 2 hour delays on the news for schools yet the teachers had to get to school and the workers had to get to work and the employees of the state of Pa had to still go through the motions of getting to work somehow.

Then 7:00 am came and went, then 8:00 a.m. and hundreds of accidents yet not one State truck or snow plow or state worker (unless you are a trooper or emergency worker, an ambulance driver or care giver of some sort called to help out the people who were possibly injured or killed).

I am 60 years old and I see the trying times we all face, but I also remember the guts and glory of the people who on their own got up and did not wait for a call to go do a job they knew in their heart needed to be done. They got on the trucks and started doing what they knew enough to do!

Governor, I ask you to give some authority to local roadwork employees.

Please allow the good workers of our state to do the job when it needs to be done.

This needs to be discussed promptly.

Our lives are regimented, yes, but by the calendar, or by common sense not because the states shift does not change a clock says to.

Our leaders need to change this, a time or date should not simply excuse this from happening. You will see more of this if something is not done before your terms are up.

Sincerely

Peter A Seman

Thompson, PA

DEP has found at least four, water wells contaminated since gas drilling in the area in 2011.  DEP has found extremely, high levels of methane, up to 70 mg./l .  Naturally occurring methane is usually below 28 mg./l.

DEP also found high levels, above allowable limits, which is called MCL’s, for arsenic, barium and high levels of TDS, iron, manganese, aluminum. DEP has not stated that their water is safe to drink even at this time.  It is still contaminated.  Any documents from DEP you wish to see, can contact me, Vera Scroggins or the families, Tammy Hadlick, Tammy and Matt Manning, on route 29, Franklin Forks, Pa.

DEP has determined that “at this time” they do not believe gas drilling is to blame for this contamination, but they do not know what is the cause, but DEP still determines that

their water is contaminated.  The families noticed changes in water in Dec. 2011.

Please do not listen to rumors and only from the Industry. Come and see and hear from the families and learn what they are going through and the documents they have from DEP.  And consider donating bottled water and leaving it near their mailboxes or on the porch.  Thank you for hearing the other side and not just what Industry and media may be saying that is not the whole picture and even inaccurate.

Contact info:  Vera Scroggins: veraduerga@yahoo.com   — 607 237-9685 and Tammy Manning at 607-727-6820, tamy.manning@mail.com.

Sincerely,

Vera Scroggins

Brackney, PA.

Some minds are locked up tighter than the gold in Fort Knox. Being impervious to facts or reason or logic, they resort to personal attacks and emotion-based ire when their position cannot be defended in any other way.

Such is the case with Chris Chacona’s letter to the Transcript dated November 6 that took exception to my letter of October 23 titled, Stuck, Swindled, And Sick.

Chris disagreed with my stance that vaccination for the flu was useless at best and harmful at worst. Evidence was cited to support this claim but to no avail.

Here are the facts that Chris ignored.

One of the world’s premier medical journals, the Lancet, monitored 13,095 non-vaccinated adults to see how many would eventually become infected with the flu virus. Only 357 became infected with a laboratory-confirmed flu virus, or 2.7 percent.

At the same time, the Lancet monitored a group who were vaccinated and discovered that 1.2 percent did not catch the flu. The journal concluded that the difference between the 2.7 percent of non-vaccinated adults and the 1.2 percent of vaccinated adults indicated that vaccination is effective in only 1.5 percent of those vaccinated.

Looked at the other way, flu vaccination does nothing in 98.5 percent of vaccinated adults.

Lastly, Dr. Lisa Jackson’s research found that healthy people tend to choose flu vaccination. Her study suggests that the “healthy-user” effect accounts for the flu vaccine’s apparent effectiveness.

We conclude that flu shots are of negligible, if any, value.

Are flu vaccines harmful? Again, facts were cited in my letter only to be sidestepped by Chris.

A menu of highly toxic ingredients in flu vaccines was listed in my letter showing that flu vaccine is indeed harmful. In fact, so much so that private insurers would not underwrite it. Pharmaceutical companies would not sell it were it not for government-backed insurance.

What was Chris Chacona’s response?

The first half of his letter were personal attacks meant to be demeaning and dismissive. He then continued with, “‘ Doctor’ Scroggins prescribes diet, exercise and a good night’s rest . . .rarely mentioned as the most effective . . . flu preventative available.”

Chris, they are “rarely mentioned” because there’s not a dime to be made for this advice, but literally tens of millions to be pocketed by selling flu vaccines. Nevertheless, there are not a few physicians who strongly advocate strengthening one’s immune system as the best protection against the flu as well as the hundreds of flu-like viruses. I echoed their recommendations for bolstering this system.

He closes with, “As for ‘Doctor’ Scroggins, I wonder if he has ever spoken with a survivor of a lost, unvaccinated loved one.”

Wonder no more, Chris, I haven’t. But perhaps you are referring to statements such as this: “The regular yearly toll of influenza is more than 30,000 dead, some years well over that level,” said Dr. Gilbert Ross, Executive Director of The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).

Let’s examine that oft-quoted figure of 30,000 using the Lancet’s percentages, and look into Dr. Ross’ organization, the ACSH, as well.

The yearly death toll of 30,000 includes those who had flu-like respiratory infections and those who had a lab confirmed flu virus. Teasing out the 1.5 percent who were infected with the actual flu virus leaves only 450 individuals who might have been saved by vaccination.

And if we take into consideration the “healthy-user” effect, the vaccine’s effectiveness is probably more than 99 percent useless.

And the ACSH? Mother Jones magazine revealed that the ACSH was largely funded by industries that had a financial stake in topics in which the ACSH was favorably disposed.

The “myth and misinformation” you accuse me of, Chris, are not to be found in my letter but in organizations, doctors, and the media, that are in a money-corrupted relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.

Chris, attacking the messenger is a hollow defense. I suggest you target the Lancet, the doctors, and the research cited in my letter that have no vested interest in peddling Big Pharma’s nostrums.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA