Pregled posta

Marketing

Have you ever been the sole possessor of information that could have a bunch of people put into prison for a very long time?

Psychologically it's not a very good place to find yourself.

After a while you start feeling kinda like you're walking around with 'bullseyes' all over yourself.

You realize that for a good number of people, life would be a lot easier if you were dead.

Once you come to that magnificently charming realization the next thing you gotta do is make it so that if anything happens to you, that the information isn't gonna die withya.

Then ya gotta get that out there to the people who might want you dead.

It's 'life insurance.'

The kind that keeps you alive.

It's better than the kind that pays off when you're dead... that should be called 'death insurance.'

I'd found myself right in the middle of this treachery one day and I didn't like it one bit.

One night as I was unlocking the front door of my house I wondered... if I took a bullet right now to the back of the head... would I feel it?

Would I hear it?

Would I see for a second blood and gore and pieces of my brains splattered on the front door in front of me before 'the lights went out?'

Would that moment be like when you turned off an old TV and the whole picture seemed to shrink down quickly to one tiny dot of light and then vanish?

What I knew scared me.

I'd been told enough times to watch my back.

That I knew who I was dealing with was scary enough... but as the scandal grew to incorporate more and more players who's names and faces I didn't know...

Man.

You couldn't know what it's like unless you've been there.

And my friend... you're gonna help me out right now.

There's only one last piece of the puzzle that I haven't shared with anyone.

And I'm going to share it with you.

Right here and right now.

Right here on flickr.

I've been avoiding the media for a couple of days now.

I really don't wanna be talkin' about this stuff on TV anymore.

The life I live 'behind the camera' is the one I really prefer.

There was one moment in the whole stinking rotten episode that scared the living shit out of me.

It made me drop the phone and it left me speechless and feeling pretty vulnerable.

After I'd figured out their dirty little secret I hadda figure out who in the hell I could tell about what they were doing... who could I tell that would do something?

I found out that the people who are supposed to make sure that water that we drink is clean and pure in this state is the Illinios Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).

On some of the documents that Krista and I had obtained through FOIA requests that she'd made there was the name of a guy at the IEPA.

I figured I'd start there.

Jesus I can barely type right now just recalling those moments.

The guy's name was Saavu.

It looked like he'd been sent out there to test the water supply a couple of times and it seemed like he might be a little familiar with the setup and the goin's on there.

I thought maybe I could trust him.

The first time I got him on the phone he sounded kinda funny.

You know I just couldn't put my finger on it but his demeanor was kind of odd.

When I told him the story he assured me that he knew what was going on and that they weren't doing anything wrong.

'Maybe he just didn't get it' I thought... maybe he just needed to see the documents we'd found.

Still... I figured he was the guy who could help bring all of this to light.

I guess I really didn't know the true meaning of the word 'treachery' but I was about to learn it real fast.

And it was gonna be a tough lesson at that.

I told Saavu that I had lots more information... and I told him I'd get back to him.

There were about six or seven more phone calls and I just couldn't understand why the guy from the IEPA was seeming to defend what these guys were doing.

Even I knew it was fucking murder... but Saavu just seemed to keep brushing it off.

I couldn't understand it.

The very last time I called the IEPA I was starting to get frustrated and a little pissed off.

Imagine calling 911 to tell them your house is on fire and they say 'we don't believe you... call back when you have proof.'

Yeah.

That's how I was feelin' here.

But things were about to take a dramatic turn my friend.

A very dark turn.

I figured out a few more things... and I thought I'd give Saavu one more call...

Maybe there was a little anger in my voice... maybe I sounded different to the receptionist...

When I asked for Saavu she said 'hold on a minute Joe.'

Joe isn't my name.

But it is the name of The Fall Guy... the guy who ran the water operation in town.

It also happened to be the name of The Snake... the guy everybody hated... The Old Man's head henchman... the one everybody figured was working with the feds first.

I was on hold before I could correct her.

When Saavu picked up the phone he sounded almost breathless.

'Joe' he said 'that guy keeps calling about the well.'

My jaw dropped and the phone f

I suppose I wasn't paying enough attention to Mary Ellen this morning because she felt the need to mess UP the magnets on my fridge, which meant I had to clean UP those magnets and restore them to their rightful place.

Clearly I have too many things UP on my fridge, but it makes me feel at home to see the same stuff on my fridge every time we move. It just doesn't feel like *my* home till all that stuff is back up on my fridge.