So it's New Years eve. I'm not out eating a fancy dinner, or at a bar, or even at Boston's First Night (my original plan up until this morning). I've found that as usual, I just simply want to say home.
There is something about New Years that brings peace to me. Perhaps it's the same feeling that some people get on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. But as we wind up one year, and look forward to the next, I find it to be a much deeper experience than writing a bunch of silly resolutions on a piece of paper (how many times have you written 'loose weight' or 'get in shape'? you people will hog the gym machines until March, until you forget about your resolutions).
It's time to look back over the past year and wonder what I wish I had done differently - and once those things are identified, I give myself permission for screwing up, and figure out how I could have handled the situation differently. I also think ahead to the coming year, and find a few important things to focus on - events I need to prepare for, changes I'd like to make (which sounds like resolutions, but aren't really - its not a "do it or else" kind of mentality), ways I'd like to grow. I think I do this same sort of analysis on my birthday, which conveniently makes it a bi-annual event.
New years is about light, and about peace - not world peace, as wonderful as that would be (on the other hand, what would drive our economy then? It would collapse, and the world peace would evaporate anyway) - but internal peace. My peace. Calmness. The absence of anxiety or worry. What has happened in the past year is past. What the future holds - who knows? It hasn't been made yet. But at this moment, this evening, I am at home. I have heat, plenty of food, and plenty of light. My family and friends are all safe and healthy. My husband and I are happy. We have warm clothes, a place to live. We all have more than we need.
New Years is also about rounding out the holiday season. In a way, it's the second coming of Christmas. One last holiday party. The final Hurrah until next year. The holiday lights are ablaze. Wishes of Happy New Year being tossed about. Final holiday gifts exchanged among friends. I can understand why people go out to party, but I have almost everything I need right here - and really, it's enough for me.
So Happy New Year. Hope you all have a happy, healthy & peaceful 2008.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Yay for shopping Local!
I know, I know... I'm behind. What else is new?
Hubby & I went holiday shopping today. We drove over to Maynard, MA to check out a new Jewelry store just opened by a friend of a friend called "Phoenix Rising". I picked up some fliers from the owner to distribute to some friends, family & neighbors to get the word out - it was a pretty cool store with some really reasonable prices. The owner makes her own jewelry, and it was beautiful. I purchased a really nice necklace for my mom which I really think she'll like (I'd describe it, but what if she reads this? It's unlikely, but you never know).
Here's their Open House flier - The open house was today & yesterday, but their logo is pretty cool, so I've included it. Linda was really friendly, and there were some great pieces in there...and I'm not a huge jewelry fan.
After that, we walked up the street to the Maynard Outdoor Store to purchase some more long underwear for me - I work outside, and it's now officially cold out (it's 17 degrees out as I write this - and our first winter storm is on it's way tomorrow night). I was actually pretty surprised by how much stuff they had and how reasonable their prices were.
Our last stop was Dunia. I hadn't been in there before, but I had seen their advertisements and they are a "Friend" of Harvard Local. I am SO glad I went in there. First of all, I liked just about everything that they had in the store (a rare thing - I'm pretty picky). I found a puzzle for my dad (of a Mandala - not sure he'll like it, but he goes through so many puzzles, he'll eat it like the rest of them and then donate it to the library, which I am OK with) that was made in Kula, HI - by my definitions, it's local, because I have a connection to that area. I'll admit my definition is a little skewed, but like it or lump it. I got a whole bunch of ideas for reusing all sorts of stuff that has lived out it's original life. I also found reclaimed cashmere yarn (not that I can use it, but maybe someday). Clothes, kids toys, home decorations, etc... but the best find was a "WrapSack" for my mom's holiday gift.
I know Steph is really going to like the WrapSack idea - it's just like "Where's George" only for these sacks that you give gifts in - and you don't have to use wasteful & expensive wrapping paper. I've logged in the wrap sack for my mom's gift and have started it on it's journey. I need to go back and get some more of these.
Dunia also had some furoshiki - same idea as WrapSacks, only not trackable, and more of a flat cloth than a sack (you can knot the corners of the cloth to make a sack, though, much like a bandana). I was interested in furoshiki years ago, and then completely forgot about them. But now that I have my very own sewing machine (that works), I hope to make my own - should be pretty easy, and the possibilities for personalization are endless.
Other than that, we're just gearing up for our first "big" winter storm... a lot of the ski areas around here are having a better-than-average early season, as far as I can tell, so I am really excited. I haven't been yet, but might go riding tomorrow night out at wa-wa.
Hubby & I went holiday shopping today. We drove over to Maynard, MA to check out a new Jewelry store just opened by a friend of a friend called "Phoenix Rising". I picked up some fliers from the owner to distribute to some friends, family & neighbors to get the word out - it was a pretty cool store with some really reasonable prices. The owner makes her own jewelry, and it was beautiful. I purchased a really nice necklace for my mom which I really think she'll like (I'd describe it, but what if she reads this? It's unlikely, but you never know).
Here's their Open House flier - The open house was today & yesterday, but their logo is pretty cool, so I've included it. Linda was really friendly, and there were some great pieces in there...and I'm not a huge jewelry fan.
After that, we walked up the street to the Maynard Outdoor Store to purchase some more long underwear for me - I work outside, and it's now officially cold out (it's 17 degrees out as I write this - and our first winter storm is on it's way tomorrow night). I was actually pretty surprised by how much stuff they had and how reasonable their prices were.Our last stop was Dunia. I hadn't been in there before, but I had seen their advertisements and they are a "Friend" of Harvard Local. I am SO glad I went in there. First of all, I liked just about everything that they had in the store (a rare thing - I'm pretty picky). I found a puzzle for my dad (of a Mandala - not sure he'll like it, but he goes through so many puzzles, he'll eat it like the rest of them and then donate it to the library, which I am OK with) that was made in Kula, HI - by my definitions, it's local, because I have a connection to that area. I'll admit my definition is a little skewed, but like it or lump it. I got a whole bunch of ideas for reusing all sorts of stuff that has lived out it's original life. I also found reclaimed cashmere yarn (not that I can use it, but maybe someday). Clothes, kids toys, home decorations, etc... but the best find was a "WrapSack" for my mom's holiday gift.
I know Steph is really going to like the WrapSack idea - it's just like "Where's George" only for these sacks that you give gifts in - and you don't have to use wasteful & expensive wrapping paper. I've logged in the wrap sack for my mom's gift and have started it on it's journey. I need to go back and get some more of these.
Dunia also had some furoshiki - same idea as WrapSacks, only not trackable, and more of a flat cloth than a sack (you can knot the corners of the cloth to make a sack, though, much like a bandana). I was interested in furoshiki years ago, and then completely forgot about them. But now that I have my very own sewing machine (that works), I hope to make my own - should be pretty easy, and the possibilities for personalization are endless.
Other than that, we're just gearing up for our first "big" winter storm... a lot of the ski areas around here are having a better-than-average early season, as far as I can tell, so I am really excited. I haven't been yet, but might go riding tomorrow night out at wa-wa.
Friday, November 09, 2007
I've been thinking...
...and not writing. I've also been reading. The book I am trying to finish is Jared Diamond's Collapse. There is much to discuss, but I am trying to wait until I actually finish the book before I start spewing ideas. For now, let's just say that I highly recommend the book.
I had an interesting conversation about the automotive industry the other day. Someone I know (kind of) is looking for a new car. This person has previously bought American-only cars; however, upon doing research the American car that this person wanted to buy was actually assembled in Mexico with parts made in Japan. Whereas Subaru, a Japanese car company, is built in Indiana by American Factory workers (at a zero-waste production plant, none the less). This person wished to buy an all-wheel drive vehicle. Subaru makes the most fuel efficient AWD vehicles - lowest emissions & highest gas mileage. Its hard to beat that.
It comes down to the question of whether you want to support greedy executive-level Americans who refuse to recognize the need for sustainability, or if you'd rather support a cutting edge domestic assembly plant that provides actual jobs for American people (who then spend their money within the American economy - I bet they even pay the mortgages!).
This situation just further exemplifies how difficult it is to "buy American."
From a sustainability view point, we should buy American. The only problem is that, well, it's very difficult. Lately, we've been trying to minimize what we buy from China. It turns out that a great many of the things we use do indeed come from China. My mother gave me some little appetizer plates the other day (which I didn't need, but felt compelled to accept) - I turned them over, and sure enough, they come from China. I ran them through the dishwasher & some of the glossy-glaze came off... these plates are now being used under small indoor herbs (winter is here - herbs are now inside).
It occurs to me that the more recent push to 'buy local' is an extension of the former 'buy American' drive. The problem is, what can you buy locally? I was really excited when I was unloading the giant bag of bird seed that I had purchased from Costco & happened to catch the label - the seed was made within 20 miles or so of my house. Wahoo! Start reading the labels and see where your consumer dollars are going. You might be really surprised.
When I think of the 'buy American' push in, what, the '80s & early 90s or so (it's hard to remember - I was a kid) - I think of flag waving Republicans. But now when I think of 'buy local' I think of new-wave hippie-type folks (yuppie? privaledged?). Polar opposites, at any rate. And it's an interesting shift. Now when I think of the stereotypical spending habits of conservatives, I think of Walmart, and I think 'cheap bastards - wont even support their own working neighbors.' Which I am pretty sure was the original Republican complaint about not buying U.S. made products.
When did that shift happen? Is it too late to bring everyone back to the middle of the road?
Which brings me to a further point. I've had it with partisan politics. Yes, again. But I've really had it. I'm tired of complaining about Bush - he's obviously a screw up and a lost cause. He has seriously F***ed our economy & our constitution, and that is his legacy. Veterans Day is on Sunday. Think about it. I don't think Veterans put their lives on the line for this sort of administration - one that erodes or constitutional rights and devalues the American dollar and the American Image (commercial & otherwise). One out of four homeless people are Veterans. Veteran's deserve our respect now more than ever, so think about that during the massive Veteran's day sales at the mall - those sales aren't for them, and certainly don't honor them in any way.
Anyway - with Bush - what's done is done. Can we move forward a little bit already? Take a look around us - our economy is serious trouble. Our energy costs are in the process of sky rocketing. Peak oil has come & gone. Our climate is changing rapidly, and we need to do something quickly to save our hides. I don't want to elect a whiner - I want to know who is actually going to create some sort of initiative across our country to get going on the future - future energy, future economy (they are so deeply intertwined, people). But to make any real progress, we need someone who wont alienate the other party. We need some kind of unifier, someone who can create a vision for the future and show it to us all so that we have something to work for, together.
Maybe we need a new party - the middle of the road party - their platform can be 'reasonable people, reasonable ideas'. Membership requirements for this new party should include 'must have had to work for a living at some point, and have some sort of grasp on reality'.
I had an interesting conversation about the automotive industry the other day. Someone I know (kind of) is looking for a new car. This person has previously bought American-only cars; however, upon doing research the American car that this person wanted to buy was actually assembled in Mexico with parts made in Japan. Whereas Subaru, a Japanese car company, is built in Indiana by American Factory workers (at a zero-waste production plant, none the less). This person wished to buy an all-wheel drive vehicle. Subaru makes the most fuel efficient AWD vehicles - lowest emissions & highest gas mileage. Its hard to beat that.
It comes down to the question of whether you want to support greedy executive-level Americans who refuse to recognize the need for sustainability, or if you'd rather support a cutting edge domestic assembly plant that provides actual jobs for American people (who then spend their money within the American economy - I bet they even pay the mortgages!).
This situation just further exemplifies how difficult it is to "buy American."
From a sustainability view point, we should buy American. The only problem is that, well, it's very difficult. Lately, we've been trying to minimize what we buy from China. It turns out that a great many of the things we use do indeed come from China. My mother gave me some little appetizer plates the other day (which I didn't need, but felt compelled to accept) - I turned them over, and sure enough, they come from China. I ran them through the dishwasher & some of the glossy-glaze came off... these plates are now being used under small indoor herbs (winter is here - herbs are now inside).
It occurs to me that the more recent push to 'buy local' is an extension of the former 'buy American' drive. The problem is, what can you buy locally? I was really excited when I was unloading the giant bag of bird seed that I had purchased from Costco & happened to catch the label - the seed was made within 20 miles or so of my house. Wahoo! Start reading the labels and see where your consumer dollars are going. You might be really surprised.
When I think of the 'buy American' push in, what, the '80s & early 90s or so (it's hard to remember - I was a kid) - I think of flag waving Republicans. But now when I think of 'buy local' I think of new-wave hippie-type folks (yuppie? privaledged?). Polar opposites, at any rate. And it's an interesting shift. Now when I think of the stereotypical spending habits of conservatives, I think of Walmart, and I think 'cheap bastards - wont even support their own working neighbors.' Which I am pretty sure was the original Republican complaint about not buying U.S. made products.
When did that shift happen? Is it too late to bring everyone back to the middle of the road?
Which brings me to a further point. I've had it with partisan politics. Yes, again. But I've really had it. I'm tired of complaining about Bush - he's obviously a screw up and a lost cause. He has seriously F***ed our economy & our constitution, and that is his legacy. Veterans Day is on Sunday. Think about it. I don't think Veterans put their lives on the line for this sort of administration - one that erodes or constitutional rights and devalues the American dollar and the American Image (commercial & otherwise). One out of four homeless people are Veterans. Veteran's deserve our respect now more than ever, so think about that during the massive Veteran's day sales at the mall - those sales aren't for them, and certainly don't honor them in any way.
Anyway - with Bush - what's done is done. Can we move forward a little bit already? Take a look around us - our economy is serious trouble. Our energy costs are in the process of sky rocketing. Peak oil has come & gone. Our climate is changing rapidly, and we need to do something quickly to save our hides. I don't want to elect a whiner - I want to know who is actually going to create some sort of initiative across our country to get going on the future - future energy, future economy (they are so deeply intertwined, people). But to make any real progress, we need someone who wont alienate the other party. We need some kind of unifier, someone who can create a vision for the future and show it to us all so that we have something to work for, together.
Maybe we need a new party - the middle of the road party - their platform can be 'reasonable people, reasonable ideas'. Membership requirements for this new party should include 'must have had to work for a living at some point, and have some sort of grasp on reality'.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
vampires!
CNN has posted an article today about "vampire electronics" - those devices that suck energy when they appear to be "off" or are on standby. Years ago, I had a debate with Steve about whether this was actually a problem or not. I swore up and down that by unplugging everything in the house when I wasn't using it saved us a ton on our energy bill. Steve maintained that the amount of power something consumes in standby mode is negligible, and it really isn't worth the hassle - the power savings we were seeing were because once we started unplugging stuff, we started thinking about the energy we were using. This article says otherwise - our energy usage for devices on 'standby mode' is equal to all of the energy use for all of Italy. That's pretty embarrassing. Five percent of our energy goes to standby power. Which means that before I put most of my stuff on power strips within the past billing cycle, I've used 969 KWH of standby power in the past 3 years, for a cost of $181.29. On average, I use almost 28 KWH of standby power every month, which costs me about $5.18 on each bill.
I have the TV, DVD, Stereo, etc on a power strip - it gets turned off at night when we go to bed, and stays off until the following evening. I have to leave the DVR plugged in because the machine gets really confused when you turn it off, and it can't record anything when its off anyway. The other TV, the one with the game systems, is in a different room, also on a power strip & also turned off. Our cell phone chargers are also on a power strip, which is only on at night.
I used to unplug the coffee maker, the toaster oven & lights we rarely used. I have stopped doing this out of sheer laziness (the plugs are harder to reach in this house, partially because the kitchen is half-remodeled).
Other things I should unplug when not in use, but I don't:
I have the TV, DVD, Stereo, etc on a power strip - it gets turned off at night when we go to bed, and stays off until the following evening. I have to leave the DVR plugged in because the machine gets really confused when you turn it off, and it can't record anything when its off anyway. The other TV, the one with the game systems, is in a different room, also on a power strip & also turned off. Our cell phone chargers are also on a power strip, which is only on at night.
I used to unplug the coffee maker, the toaster oven & lights we rarely used. I have stopped doing this out of sheer laziness (the plugs are harder to reach in this house, partially because the kitchen is half-remodeled).
Other things I should unplug when not in use, but I don't:
- The washing machine. I only use that like once a week. Maybe twice.
- The clothes drier, which I use even less often than the washing machine (hang clothes outside)
- The toothbrush recharger
- My spouse's beard trimmer - he only uses that 1x a month, and I don't even know where the actual trimmer is.
- The all-in-one printer. At least we turn it off now, but it's still not unplugged.
- The dehumidifier - I turn it off at night, but don't unplug it.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Wachusett
We went out to Wachusett Mountain today - they were supposed to be having some sort of pre-season event. We didn't really find it, but we did grab lunch & take a free up the chair lift (courtesy of our season passes).
Lunch was surprising. We got sandwiches from the cafeteria line, and while not cheap, they were mighty tasty, and I didn't mind paying $6.50 for the sandwich I had - it was comprable to any sandwich I would get in a regular restaurant. We even found some root beer made by the Polar Soda company (a local company) that didn't contain high fructose corn syrup. I was happy. Far better than most ski area food - and on par with the lunch I had at the Sundance Resort in Utah last winter.
However, because it was the off season still, I couldn't find a place to recycle the glass soda bottles, so I had to bring them home with me to recycle. I've read they have an on-site recycling facility, but there were no bins to be found today.
The weather was beautiful. It's finally getting cold out. It was MAYBE in the mid-50s, and it was very windy (gusts to 25 MPH?). But it was sunny. It was kind of nice to be cold for once. After all my complaining, I'm ready for winter now. Low's tonight in the upper 20s - and all I can think is "Finally". The chairlift ride was beautiful. It felt a little weird being in non-ski gear, and not having a heavy board pulling on my feet, but it was a really pretty (but freezing cold) ride.
When we got to the top, we got off to walk around a bit, even though we had just been there a couple weeks ago. I'm glad we did - there was a circle of Native American's sitting at the top with their drums, singing (not cross legged on the ground - they were sitting in normal chairs, wearing regular clothes, next to their vehicles). I don't know what they were singing - I didn't ask, and I didn't understand the language (no surprise there). But it was fitting somehow. I don't have any idea whether this was a planned event or just a group of people who decided to get together today & do this. Either way it was just really cool. It was such a good day.
So while poking around the Wachusett website, I came across their environment page. I was really excited to find out that they use the heat generated by the air compressors that run their snowmaking equipment to provide 100% of the heat for their base lodge. They also are doing a lot to promote the health of the forest around the mountain. The use pond water to flush their toilets in the lodge. They are a member of the Sustainable Slopes, an environmental charter for ski areas. I did a term paper on Sustainable Slopes in school back in 2000 or so - and sadly I have forgetten many of the details of the program. But I am glad to know that not only is the program still going, but the ski area that I have a season pass to is not only locally owned, but it's a member of Sustainable Slopes.
Lunch was surprising. We got sandwiches from the cafeteria line, and while not cheap, they were mighty tasty, and I didn't mind paying $6.50 for the sandwich I had - it was comprable to any sandwich I would get in a regular restaurant. We even found some root beer made by the Polar Soda company (a local company) that didn't contain high fructose corn syrup. I was happy. Far better than most ski area food - and on par with the lunch I had at the Sundance Resort in Utah last winter.
However, because it was the off season still, I couldn't find a place to recycle the glass soda bottles, so I had to bring them home with me to recycle. I've read they have an on-site recycling facility, but there were no bins to be found today.
The weather was beautiful. It's finally getting cold out. It was MAYBE in the mid-50s, and it was very windy (gusts to 25 MPH?). But it was sunny. It was kind of nice to be cold for once. After all my complaining, I'm ready for winter now. Low's tonight in the upper 20s - and all I can think is "Finally". The chairlift ride was beautiful. It felt a little weird being in non-ski gear, and not having a heavy board pulling on my feet, but it was a really pretty (but freezing cold) ride.
When we got to the top, we got off to walk around a bit, even though we had just been there a couple weeks ago. I'm glad we did - there was a circle of Native American's sitting at the top with their drums, singing (not cross legged on the ground - they were sitting in normal chairs, wearing regular clothes, next to their vehicles). I don't know what they were singing - I didn't ask, and I didn't understand the language (no surprise there). But it was fitting somehow. I don't have any idea whether this was a planned event or just a group of people who decided to get together today & do this. Either way it was just really cool. It was such a good day.
So while poking around the Wachusett website, I came across their environment page. I was really excited to find out that they use the heat generated by the air compressors that run their snowmaking equipment to provide 100% of the heat for their base lodge. They also are doing a lot to promote the health of the forest around the mountain. The use pond water to flush their toilets in the lodge. They are a member of the Sustainable Slopes, an environmental charter for ski areas. I did a term paper on Sustainable Slopes in school back in 2000 or so - and sadly I have forgetten many of the details of the program. But I am glad to know that not only is the program still going, but the ski area that I have a season pass to is not only locally owned, but it's a member of Sustainable Slopes.
Friday, October 26, 2007
I don't even know what to call this...
A good friend of ours is deploying for Afghanistan today. He had taken a permanent job as an active duty reservists in a non-deployable position, yet he is deploying for 6 months. Yet another example of the military screwing it's people and not playing by its own rules.
I have no idea what to say to this friend - we'll call him Steve - or his wife. He has kids, and is a big family man. He took his current job as a way to protect them from the misery of deployment, yet here he is, shipping out just in time for the holidays.
In other news, my spouse received not one, but two letters from the air force reserves congratulating him on his recent promotion to captain. These letters applauded him for his hard work, and urged to contact the nearest air force reserve office for assignment in order to further his military career.
And all I can think of at this point is "oh crap". These letters, while not a specific threat, are a reminder that 'we still own you'. Theres nothing like that not so subtle reminder to thoroughly mess up your month.
I wonder when our lives will truly be our own. But what I do know is that I can't possibly have kids until my spouse is longer on that leash. So the holding pattern continues.
Call my cynical or crazy, but we got sucked into the military about 9 months before we declared war on Iraq (previously my spouse had been classified as on a medical waiver... and then suddenly, no, he was fit to serve). So it will be interesting to see what happens with Iran & Turkey... in, oh, I dunno, 6-9 months from now.
For the love of god, yell as loud as you can so we don't find ourselves STARTING WWIII in the middle east. Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, China & Russia... do you guys see a pattern yet? What we are now hearing about Iran is the same damn thing, almost verbatim, that we heard about Iraq leading up to the war. We are headed down an even darker road than the one we're already on.
Here's another parallel. Right before the Iraq war started, we were in a recession, or headed for one. The economy was tanking. Here we are again. It's fall again. The economy is again tanking. The one thing I learned in High School history is that since the 20th century, the American way out of depression and economic hardship is to start a war to ramp up our defense contractors & manufacturing production. Iraq worked for a little while, but we're tanking again. Solution? Another war!
I'm sure you've noticed yet another cold war-esque type situation brewing - who has nukes, who wants nukes, Russia doesn't want us to put missile defense sites near it, etc. etc.... Think of how BIG the defense industry became because of the cold war. I believe we're looking at beginning of V 2.0
and why? why? energy. I betcha. Oil. Who has the oil, who uses the most oil. As oil becomes scarcer, the fighting for it will get stronger.
And I thought the people who were saying that the Iraq war was a war for oil were quacks. surprise!
I have no idea what to say to this friend - we'll call him Steve - or his wife. He has kids, and is a big family man. He took his current job as a way to protect them from the misery of deployment, yet here he is, shipping out just in time for the holidays.
In other news, my spouse received not one, but two letters from the air force reserves congratulating him on his recent promotion to captain. These letters applauded him for his hard work, and urged to contact the nearest air force reserve office for assignment in order to further his military career.
And all I can think of at this point is "oh crap". These letters, while not a specific threat, are a reminder that 'we still own you'. Theres nothing like that not so subtle reminder to thoroughly mess up your month.
I wonder when our lives will truly be our own. But what I do know is that I can't possibly have kids until my spouse is longer on that leash. So the holding pattern continues.
Call my cynical or crazy, but we got sucked into the military about 9 months before we declared war on Iraq (previously my spouse had been classified as on a medical waiver... and then suddenly, no, he was fit to serve). So it will be interesting to see what happens with Iran & Turkey... in, oh, I dunno, 6-9 months from now.
For the love of god, yell as loud as you can so we don't find ourselves STARTING WWIII in the middle east. Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, China & Russia... do you guys see a pattern yet? What we are now hearing about Iran is the same damn thing, almost verbatim, that we heard about Iraq leading up to the war. We are headed down an even darker road than the one we're already on.
Here's another parallel. Right before the Iraq war started, we were in a recession, or headed for one. The economy was tanking. Here we are again. It's fall again. The economy is again tanking. The one thing I learned in High School history is that since the 20th century, the American way out of depression and economic hardship is to start a war to ramp up our defense contractors & manufacturing production. Iraq worked for a little while, but we're tanking again. Solution? Another war!
I'm sure you've noticed yet another cold war-esque type situation brewing - who has nukes, who wants nukes, Russia doesn't want us to put missile defense sites near it, etc. etc.... Think of how BIG the defense industry became because of the cold war. I believe we're looking at beginning of V 2.0
and why? why? energy. I betcha. Oil. Who has the oil, who uses the most oil. As oil becomes scarcer, the fighting for it will get stronger.
And I thought the people who were saying that the Iraq war was a war for oil were quacks. surprise!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
baseball, ads & chevy
Chevy ad during the world series:
"I want to go electric"
"I want a hybrid that works for a family of 4"
you know what I want? I want a little HOPE.
The big, big picture is so depressing. The economy is tanking. The climate is changing ( and we don't know how this is really going to play out). I'm tired of looking at everything and seeing the truth. I'd really like a pair of rose colored glasses so that I could ignore, just for a little while, the real reality.
While reading MIT's Technology Review, I realized that one of the best ways to digest the collapse of the ice sheets is with a lovely margarita in hand. And that is just sad.
Lately, the Sundance Channel has been coming through for me. Last night, we watched Iconoclasts (BEFORE the Sox game) - Dave Chappelle & Maya Angelou. I'm really glad I watched it, but I can't exactly explain what I've taken away from it. Other than integrity is really important & I have a whole lot of respect from both of the show participants.
Tonight we watched something we had DVR'd from Sundance - it was called "Big Ideas for a Small Planet". This episode was about sustainable work places. Ironically, I found out that the company I USED to work for in Texas & in Las Vegas is trying to be an environmentally sustainable business. They were making a good effort when I was there, but they are now making more of an effort. Free bus & train passes for employees. They've taken out ONE of the lightbulbs in the double-flourescent tubes in the ceilings- in every single fixture in every single office. Sounds small, right? Apparently it's made a huge difference. I'm really afraid to know what the carbon footprint is of where I work now. Just the sheer amount of driving I do in the giant work truck should push the carbon footprint into the outer atmosphere. I need to read more about this - can anyone recommend a book?
What else? My oil tank was filled today. We paid $2.79/ gallon. I think it was 108 gallons. That's not cheap. Should have had it filled in JULY. When will I learn?
I did notice on my oil bill that they've included the last 5 fill ups. I'll have to figure out what to do with that info. It looks like I get a fill up 2x a winter, and then maybe once in the late spring/summer. It's irregular - I guess the oil company calculates when to fill it up based on our consumption & heating degree days. Whatever the method, thats a whole lot of oil...
On my bill, it does look like "ideal delivery" is when they have to deliver 206 gallons. They've only hit that once - in March 2006 (I wasn't even HOME for those 6 months, although we did have a house sitter, and I was so thankful that there is no way I'll complain about her heating oil consumption). So I guess that I should be encouraged that I am more efficient than their delivery models predict since they are frequently delivering at 50% - 75% of their "ideal delivery".
"I want to go electric"
"I want a hybrid that works for a family of 4"
you know what I want? I want a little HOPE.
The big, big picture is so depressing. The economy is tanking. The climate is changing ( and we don't know how this is really going to play out). I'm tired of looking at everything and seeing the truth. I'd really like a pair of rose colored glasses so that I could ignore, just for a little while, the real reality.
While reading MIT's Technology Review, I realized that one of the best ways to digest the collapse of the ice sheets is with a lovely margarita in hand. And that is just sad.
Lately, the Sundance Channel has been coming through for me. Last night, we watched Iconoclasts (BEFORE the Sox game) - Dave Chappelle & Maya Angelou. I'm really glad I watched it, but I can't exactly explain what I've taken away from it. Other than integrity is really important & I have a whole lot of respect from both of the show participants.
Tonight we watched something we had DVR'd from Sundance - it was called "Big Ideas for a Small Planet". This episode was about sustainable work places. Ironically, I found out that the company I USED to work for in Texas & in Las Vegas is trying to be an environmentally sustainable business. They were making a good effort when I was there, but they are now making more of an effort. Free bus & train passes for employees. They've taken out ONE of the lightbulbs in the double-flourescent tubes in the ceilings- in every single fixture in every single office. Sounds small, right? Apparently it's made a huge difference. I'm really afraid to know what the carbon footprint is of where I work now. Just the sheer amount of driving I do in the giant work truck should push the carbon footprint into the outer atmosphere. I need to read more about this - can anyone recommend a book?
What else? My oil tank was filled today. We paid $2.79/ gallon. I think it was 108 gallons. That's not cheap. Should have had it filled in JULY. When will I learn?
I did notice on my oil bill that they've included the last 5 fill ups. I'll have to figure out what to do with that info. It looks like I get a fill up 2x a winter, and then maybe once in the late spring/summer. It's irregular - I guess the oil company calculates when to fill it up based on our consumption & heating degree days. Whatever the method, thats a whole lot of oil...
On my bill, it does look like "ideal delivery" is when they have to deliver 206 gallons. They've only hit that once - in March 2006 (I wasn't even HOME for those 6 months, although we did have a house sitter, and I was so thankful that there is no way I'll complain about her heating oil consumption). So I guess that I should be encouraged that I am more efficient than their delivery models predict since they are frequently delivering at 50% - 75% of their "ideal delivery".
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Low-Water Lawns
YAY for low water lawns - A Central Florida city is offering $1,000 to residents who trade in their grassy green lawns for drought resistant plants and mulch yards in order to conserve water (which they are slated to run out of in 2013). In Texas, this method of landscaping was called Xeriscaping. And just like in Florida, the biggest resistance to this eco-friendly and wallet friendly landscaping method are those damned homeowners associations, who say that no lawns equates to lower property values. (I seriously think homeowner associations should be outlawed... they are evil).
Think about it: no lawn means MUCH less watering, no energy to mow, no fertilizing, and less of your time spent taking care of it. In Oviedo, FL, water bills are forecast to grow by 500% to 700% as the water runs out. It seems like a no brainer to let the city pay you $1K to free you from slaving over your lawn, and then save you money in the future as you are using less water.
Think about it: no lawn means MUCH less watering, no energy to mow, no fertilizing, and less of your time spent taking care of it. In Oviedo, FL, water bills are forecast to grow by 500% to 700% as the water runs out. It seems like a no brainer to let the city pay you $1K to free you from slaving over your lawn, and then save you money in the future as you are using less water.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Wildfires
A quarter of a million people evacuated from possibly THE most populous & affluent part of the country - and community leaders are saying there is little that they can do to stop homes from burning. The only thing that may stop these fires is the ocean.
I'm afraid this situation is going to get exponentially worse very soon. And while you might be thinking that "those people with their fancy houses" can afford to rebuild or move or whatever, there are a whole lot of 'normal' people who will also be affected - only we wont hear about them, because news reports typically only cover the sensational stories, like the rich & famous (Courtney Cox had to hose down her house! Oh no!)
I'm not the praying type. But I will be following the news, and hoping for the best. Maybe the wind will die down...
I'm afraid this situation is going to get exponentially worse very soon. And while you might be thinking that "those people with their fancy houses" can afford to rebuild or move or whatever, there are a whole lot of 'normal' people who will also be affected - only we wont hear about them, because news reports typically only cover the sensational stories, like the rich & famous (Courtney Cox had to hose down her house! Oh no!)
I'm not the praying type. But I will be following the news, and hoping for the best. Maybe the wind will die down...
Saturday, October 20, 2007
more electricity acrobatics
So I've been taking a poll on electricity usage: (I actually sent emails out, and they were actually answered).
This is what I've got so far:
520.2 KWH/person - household "A" in Middlesex County, MA (electric stove, 2 window ACs)
375 KWH/person - household "B" in northern NJ (central AC)
I'd love to see some data from other climates... I'll have to send more emails.
This is what I've got so far:
520.2 KWH/person - household "A" in Middlesex County, MA (electric stove, 2 window ACs)
375 KWH/person - household "B" in northern NJ (central AC)
I'd love to see some data from other climates... I'll have to send more emails.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Water Wars (update)
I recently described the issues that the Southeast is facing with their ongoing drought. Here's an update:
the state of Georgia is suing the Army Corps of Engineers to stem the flow out of Lake Lanier. In the 1980s, an agreement was reached with the ACE (which controls the lake) and the US Fish & Wildlife Service to provide adequate water flow to the Chattahoochee River, in order to sustain endangered species in the river & to provide water flow to a hydroelectric dam in Florida.
If the lawsuit is successful, and the flow of water to the river is stemmed, what happens to that hydroelectric damn in FL? (and yes, I'm worried about the endangered species as well, but the lack of power might have huge economic impact very soon). Will some people stop getting power service? Will they have to somehow import power from other grids? is that possible? It sounds expensive for all involved.
Also in that CNN story, one town in NC has to import its water on trucks at this point. Restuarants & cafeterias have started serving food on PAPER PLATES because they can't wash the dishes - that sounds about a half-inch above going out of business. Two poultry plants have cut production one day a week in order to save water. This drought is starting to have serious economic impacts (not to mention environmental impacts).
What happens to property values in a town that has completely run out of water? The housing market is already depressed nationwide. What happens when residents decide they can't continue to live in a place without water, but can't sell their houses (who would buy a home with no water)? Already some businesses are being effected, and that is likely to continue & increase as the water situation gets worse (remember that the drought is forecast to last at least through December - and it's going to take a long time to make up the deficits). What happens when importing water on trucks bankrupts towns, and the local government shuts down? It doesn't seem like such a far-fetched nightmare anymore.
the state of Georgia is suing the Army Corps of Engineers to stem the flow out of Lake Lanier. In the 1980s, an agreement was reached with the ACE (which controls the lake) and the US Fish & Wildlife Service to provide adequate water flow to the Chattahoochee River, in order to sustain endangered species in the river & to provide water flow to a hydroelectric dam in Florida.
If the lawsuit is successful, and the flow of water to the river is stemmed, what happens to that hydroelectric damn in FL? (and yes, I'm worried about the endangered species as well, but the lack of power might have huge economic impact very soon). Will some people stop getting power service? Will they have to somehow import power from other grids? is that possible? It sounds expensive for all involved.
Also in that CNN story, one town in NC has to import its water on trucks at this point. Restuarants & cafeterias have started serving food on PAPER PLATES because they can't wash the dishes - that sounds about a half-inch above going out of business. Two poultry plants have cut production one day a week in order to save water. This drought is starting to have serious economic impacts (not to mention environmental impacts).
What happens to property values in a town that has completely run out of water? The housing market is already depressed nationwide. What happens when residents decide they can't continue to live in a place without water, but can't sell their houses (who would buy a home with no water)? Already some businesses are being effected, and that is likely to continue & increase as the water situation gets worse (remember that the drought is forecast to last at least through December - and it's going to take a long time to make up the deficits). What happens when importing water on trucks bankrupts towns, and the local government shuts down? It doesn't seem like such a far-fetched nightmare anymore.
Electricity Bill Exercises
So I found myself staring at the electricity bill that came yesterday, and I couldn't help but do a little math (I don't know what's come over me recently- math is NOT my thing). We used 25% less energy last month (mid Sept. thru mid Oct.). Compared to the same period last year, we used 15% less energy this year (for that billing cycle).
So after being encouraged by this, I dug out my records & pieced together what data I had for the past 3 years. I put in a spreadsheet & made a graph. I color coded the graph by season:
blue = winter
green = spring
yellow = summer (the yellow didn't really show up well. tough.)
orange = fall
I'm sure you could have figured that out. I think a 5 year old might have gotten that.
That first & biggest peak is when I discovered the electric heater in the sunroom (and the sunlight in the sunroom). And probably also when I decided that I couldn't take the darkness of winter any longer & consequently turned on every light in the house (cut me a little slack - we just moved up from Texas). I'm rather embarrassed by that peak. The sad part? We were out of town for 3 weeks - at least part of which is covered in that billing cycle. Let's just leave it as: I'm not proud of that.
The good news is that since the first few months of data, we've never crossed that starting threshold (800 KWH? how awful). You can almost see the progression as we gradually switched the light bulbs to CFLs. No mean feat - someone had replaced every single one of our light switches with dimmable switches. Dimmable CFLS are really pricey, and who needs mood lighting in the bathrooms? So we had to replace the switches as we replaced the bulbs.
Interestingly, you can't really tell when we got the window AC unit - we didn't turn it on much. You can see the spikes in the summer when we use the fans though. And around February when I can't stand being cold & dark anymore. If only I could get over that hump.
THIS is what I did with my Friday afternoon off. I came home from work & ended up doing this... (actually, I got really frustrated that I had forgotten how to use excel, and couldn't possibly quit).
I am a little disturbed by the overall general upward trend over the past 2 years, though. But once again, I'm pretty happy with last month's performance, so I wont beat myself up too badly.
After going through this exercise, it occurs to me that maybe nobody else even LOOKS at their electricity bill (much less makes a spreadsheet & graph). But what if we were all a little more nosey? What if we had to own up to our electricity usage to our nosey (but well meaning) friends? What if we could have a contest each month of who uses the least? What if among a group of friends, we could compare electricity bills, and the person with the highest bill has to buy a drink for every other person in the group? We could normalize the bills - break it down to KWH/resident average... our household energy usage this month would be 187 KWH/person. There would have to be a handicap for folks with electric stoves & electric heat, but I think over time we could figure that out.
I guess it's a similar idea to my arms race for alternative energy. Americans like competition - maybe we can use that to our advantage.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Cape Wind
The Cape Cod Commission - the group that apparently controls power transmission lines on the Cape - denied Cape Wind's application to bury transmission lines on the Cape. (See the Boston Globe article)
At the same time, oil prices hit near $90 a barrel today, and I've see projections that we'll be seeing $100 a barrel for crude oil in the near future - just in time for the winter heating season.
It seems utterly ridiculous & short sighted to block Cape Wind's application - it just seems like the latest attempt of the priveleged folks on the Cape & the Islands to block something that they wont even be able to see from their precious ocean front property. It's a federally approved project that would provide 75% of the cape & the islands' electrical energy. They've completed their NEPA mandated EIS. What BETTER time to start a project like this (other than years ago)?
Today is just one of those days when I am baffled & angered by people's inability to change, to accept what we have to do to survive. If we don't start projects like this now, the costs of construction are only going to increase as the years go by (as the costs of energy rise significantly, as they seem to be starting to do) - when we can least afford to fund such a project.
The Mass Maritime Academy has it's own wind turbine in Bourne. During the PMC, I slept in a tent underneath it. It wasn't ugly, it was elegant. It did make a little noise, but MUCH less than a truck driving by, or a train, or even air conditioner compressor - and I am a very noise sensitive person (I've been known to walk out of restaurants simply because they were too loud & the noise makes me angry. I can't handle sporting events or large crowds- too noisy). I found the soft swooshing noise to be soothing, and I slept very well that night.
How come we can fund a US Military Expansion in Africa (AFRICOM) under the thinly veiled guise of humanitarian aid (which everyone recognizes as perhaps a shift in our oil dependency from the Middle East to Africa) - but we can't fund projects like Cape Wind to become more self sufficient while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions?
People are afraid of change. I guess it's human nature. And that human nature might just be our downfall.
I hope it's not. But unless people start to wake up soon, we are all going to suffer. I do not like the thought of my kids being set back to a pre-1900s era because a majority of the population is too busy watching Survivor (or whatever the flavor of the month is) to pay attention to the real reality.
At the same time, oil prices hit near $90 a barrel today, and I've see projections that we'll be seeing $100 a barrel for crude oil in the near future - just in time for the winter heating season.
It seems utterly ridiculous & short sighted to block Cape Wind's application - it just seems like the latest attempt of the priveleged folks on the Cape & the Islands to block something that they wont even be able to see from their precious ocean front property. It's a federally approved project that would provide 75% of the cape & the islands' electrical energy. They've completed their NEPA mandated EIS. What BETTER time to start a project like this (other than years ago)?
Today is just one of those days when I am baffled & angered by people's inability to change, to accept what we have to do to survive. If we don't start projects like this now, the costs of construction are only going to increase as the years go by (as the costs of energy rise significantly, as they seem to be starting to do) - when we can least afford to fund such a project.
The Mass Maritime Academy has it's own wind turbine in Bourne. During the PMC, I slept in a tent underneath it. It wasn't ugly, it was elegant. It did make a little noise, but MUCH less than a truck driving by, or a train, or even air conditioner compressor - and I am a very noise sensitive person (I've been known to walk out of restaurants simply because they were too loud & the noise makes me angry. I can't handle sporting events or large crowds- too noisy). I found the soft swooshing noise to be soothing, and I slept very well that night.
How come we can fund a US Military Expansion in Africa (AFRICOM) under the thinly veiled guise of humanitarian aid (which everyone recognizes as perhaps a shift in our oil dependency from the Middle East to Africa) - but we can't fund projects like Cape Wind to become more self sufficient while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions?
People are afraid of change. I guess it's human nature. And that human nature might just be our downfall.
I hope it's not. But unless people start to wake up soon, we are all going to suffer. I do not like the thought of my kids being set back to a pre-1900s era because a majority of the population is too busy watching Survivor (or whatever the flavor of the month is) to pay attention to the real reality.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The morning after...
Red Sox lost. Again. This is not looking good, folks.
Also, Niki Tsongas won the afore mentioned election yesterday. It wasn't exactly a landslide. Tsongas received 51%, while her main rival Jim Ogonowski captured 46%. We're a small state, and the 5th Congressional District is only a portion there of - 29 towns, mostly along the area between northern portion of the I-495 corridor & the northern portion of the Rt 128 corridor (portions of Essex County, Middlesex County & Worcester County).
Tsongas received 54,363 votes, while Ogonowski received 47,770. A difference of 6,593 votes. I wonder how many people are registered to vote in the district? In 2000, there were 635,223 residents in the 5th district (on the census, anyway) - it might be about the same now, as there has been considerable concern about Massachusetts hemorrhaging residents due to the high cost of living (perhaps its less, but I don't think its much more than that). Including all the votes that the less mainstream candidates received yesterday, only 105,992 voted. That means about 17% of the population of the 5th District actually voted.
So the other 83% cannot complain about congress until they vote in the next election. Don't like what gets passed in Congress? Tough. You should have voted.
I voted, so I can complain all I want.
That also means that the difference between the winner & the looser of the election was a margin of 1% of the residents of the 5th District. 1%. If an additional 1% had voted (all you people who meant to, but didn't...), it could have actually affected the outcome. And that one vote in congress might actually effect us later on (like tomorrow?) Tsongas is hoping to be able to sworn in in time for the veto-override vote of the S-CHIP bill tomorrow.
I will bring up this handy little fact. Niki Tsongas, although she rubs me the wrong way, actually made good use of her website. She had an issues section where she discussed intelligently the issues and where she stands. Ogonowski's website did not. He had "News" which was the closest thing - he also had "Contribute", "Get Active", "Multimedia" and the usual "Supporter Login" and "Contact Us". There was no "this is where I stand on the issues" that was quick & easy to find. Oh sure, he'll take your money, but you'll have no idea what he's likely to do if he's elected. Most voters don't have the time to dig around to figure out what you stand for. I guess maybe running as a republican, he thought that was enough, and that most republicans would vote for him because he's a republican? That's funny, since right on the front page of his website he has a video with a text overlay saying "NOT a partisan politician".
I'll admit it - I didn't vote in the primary, although I meant to. I forgot about it - I flew in on a red eye that morning, which usually messes me up pretty good. And in my struggle to stay awake and get back into the eastern time zone, I completely forgot. But I learned my lesson - the guy who I had wanted to vote for lost.
Also, Niki Tsongas won the afore mentioned election yesterday. It wasn't exactly a landslide. Tsongas received 51%, while her main rival Jim Ogonowski captured 46%. We're a small state, and the 5th Congressional District is only a portion there of - 29 towns, mostly along the area between northern portion of the I-495 corridor & the northern portion of the Rt 128 corridor (portions of Essex County, Middlesex County & Worcester County).
Tsongas received 54,363 votes, while Ogonowski received 47,770. A difference of 6,593 votes. I wonder how many people are registered to vote in the district? In 2000, there were 635,223 residents in the 5th district (on the census, anyway) - it might be about the same now, as there has been considerable concern about Massachusetts hemorrhaging residents due to the high cost of living (perhaps its less, but I don't think its much more than that). Including all the votes that the less mainstream candidates received yesterday, only 105,992 voted. That means about 17% of the population of the 5th District actually voted.
So the other 83% cannot complain about congress until they vote in the next election. Don't like what gets passed in Congress? Tough. You should have voted.
I voted, so I can complain all I want.
That also means that the difference between the winner & the looser of the election was a margin of 1% of the residents of the 5th District. 1%. If an additional 1% had voted (all you people who meant to, but didn't...), it could have actually affected the outcome. And that one vote in congress might actually effect us later on (like tomorrow?) Tsongas is hoping to be able to sworn in in time for the veto-override vote of the S-CHIP bill tomorrow.
I will bring up this handy little fact. Niki Tsongas, although she rubs me the wrong way, actually made good use of her website. She had an issues section where she discussed intelligently the issues and where she stands. Ogonowski's website did not. He had "News" which was the closest thing - he also had "Contribute", "Get Active", "Multimedia" and the usual "Supporter Login" and "Contact Us". There was no "this is where I stand on the issues" that was quick & easy to find. Oh sure, he'll take your money, but you'll have no idea what he's likely to do if he's elected. Most voters don't have the time to dig around to figure out what you stand for. I guess maybe running as a republican, he thought that was enough, and that most republicans would vote for him because he's a republican? That's funny, since right on the front page of his website he has a video with a text overlay saying "NOT a partisan politician".
I'll admit it - I didn't vote in the primary, although I meant to. I forgot about it - I flew in on a red eye that morning, which usually messes me up pretty good. And in my struggle to stay awake and get back into the eastern time zone, I completely forgot. But I learned my lesson - the guy who I had wanted to vote for lost.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Ben Stein falls from what grace he had
Ben Stein's new movie is coming out in early 2008. This guy isn't some random crazy guy- or at least, I didn't think he was (oh, look, I was wrong again). He's written presidential speeches (well, that might explain something...).
I really thought this was a spoof. Ironically, the Onion thought they had the line on this way back in 2005. Alas, it has become a serious movie. IMDB says so.
Here is the movie website, complete with a few trailers. Looks like it's as bad as it originally looked. They have messages on there directed toward students - be careful folks, they are going after your kids!
Curiously, when I was looking to see who may have funded this movie, I came across several references to scientists who had been interviewed for a documentary entitled "Crossroads" - yet somehow their interviews ended up in this movie. Some are really upset about it. Crooks and Liars covers the story fairly well, but be sure to read some of the comments the original post. It's also covered in the NY Times
While on Crooks & Liars, I read many many other disturbing posts regarding the bush (not capitalized on purpose) administration and the right wing in general. Very scary times we're in.
I really thought this was a spoof. Ironically, the Onion thought they had the line on this way back in 2005. Alas, it has become a serious movie. IMDB says so.
Here is the movie website, complete with a few trailers. Looks like it's as bad as it originally looked. They have messages on there directed toward students - be careful folks, they are going after your kids!
Curiously, when I was looking to see who may have funded this movie, I came across several references to scientists who had been interviewed for a documentary entitled "Crossroads" - yet somehow their interviews ended up in this movie. Some are really upset about it. Crooks and Liars covers the story fairly well, but be sure to read some of the comments the original post. It's also covered in the NY Times
While on Crooks & Liars, I read many many other disturbing posts regarding the bush (not capitalized on purpose) administration and the right wing in general. Very scary times we're in.
the OTHER Step It Up contestants...
Ever notice how John Edwards just looks a teeny bit like John Ritter?
At any rate, under his "issues" button, John Edwards doesn't even have an environmental header. Nor does he have an energy button. Nothing. He apparently doesn't care about the environment at all. It's a non-issue for him.
And Edwards is another guy who is slated to attend Step It Up 2007. Oh Boy.
So far, I'm not real impressed with this event.
On another note, every single one of the candidates that I have looked at have the same exact header bar. They all seem to be clones... democrat or republican... clones, I tell you. We're in deep trouble. If they can't come up with their own header bar, how are we supposed to be able to tell the difference between their ideas? They are TRYING to all look the same, despite the millions of dollars they are raising to claim otherwise. Yikes...
However, Dennis Kucinich does actually address the environment. He mentions the world population (over population/carrying capacity?). He mentions "rejoining" the Kyoto treaty (twice...) - I wasn't aware we had ever signed the Kyoto treaty, which is one thing I'm still grumpy at Clinton about. Apparently Kucinich sponsored HR1950 - the Safe Climate Act of 2007. He falls just shy of mentioning "peak oil":
At any rate, under his "issues" button, John Edwards doesn't even have an environmental header. Nor does he have an energy button. Nothing. He apparently doesn't care about the environment at all. It's a non-issue for him.
And Edwards is another guy who is slated to attend Step It Up 2007. Oh Boy.
So far, I'm not real impressed with this event.
On another note, every single one of the candidates that I have looked at have the same exact header bar. They all seem to be clones... democrat or republican... clones, I tell you. We're in deep trouble. If they can't come up with their own header bar, how are we supposed to be able to tell the difference between their ideas? They are TRYING to all look the same, despite the millions of dollars they are raising to claim otherwise. Yikes...
However, Dennis Kucinich does actually address the environment. He mentions the world population (over population/carrying capacity?). He mentions "rejoining" the Kyoto treaty (twice...) - I wasn't aware we had ever signed the Kyoto treaty, which is one thing I'm still grumpy at Clinton about. Apparently Kucinich sponsored HR1950 - the Safe Climate Act of 2007. He falls just shy of mentioning "peak oil":
"Oil is also an immense sustainability issue. With the peak of U.S. oil production some decades in the past and the world facing inevitable shortages in the near future, a continuation of our present energy policies is a prescription for unending conflicts."
So he GETS it... he just wont SAY it...
BUT... similar to (or perhaps better than) my quest for an arms-style green energy race (whole new meaning to "cold war"), Kucinich has proposed a "Works Green Administration (WGA)". The WGA, a new version of the WPA (Works Progress Administration from the New Deal Era), would be coupled with NASA & the EPA to restore our infrastructure & provided sustainable energy at the same time. I can only imagine that this would mean a more European-style highway system, covered in solar panels (hey- it's better than billboards - but with today's technology you could actually have both at the same time & place).
"The United States under a Kucinich presidency would reverse the unsustainable actions in the following areas:
1) Energy consumption
2) Military spending
3) Economic and tax policy
4) Environmental policy
5) Land and water use"
He goes on to say some interesting things about water (a subject near & dear to my heart):
""All water shall be considered to be forever in the public domain. It shall be the duty of each nation to provide accessible, affordable drinking water to its peoples. There shall be public ownership of drinking water systems, subject to municipal control Wealthy nations shall provide poor nations with the means to obtain water for survival. Water shall be protected from commodification and exempted from all trade agreements. Water privatization shall not be a condition of debt restructuring, loan renewal or loan forgiveness. Governments shall use their powers to prevent private aggregation of water rights. Water shall be conserved through sustainable agriculture and encouraging plant-based diets. Water resources shall be protected from pollution. Our children should be educated about the essential nature of water for maintaining life. [I would] recommend a series of declarative sentences which can serve as the basis for a course of action. We shall call these ten principles "Water Marks."
1. All water shall be considered to be forever in the public domain.
2. It shall be the duty of each nation to provide accessible, affordable drinking water.
3. There shall be public ownership of drinking water.
4. Wealthy nations shall provide poor nations with the means to obtain water for survival.
5. Water shall be protected from commodification and exempted from all trade agreements.
6. Water privatization shall not be a condition of debt restructuring, loan renewal, or loan forgiveness.
7. Governments shall use their powers to prevent private aggregation of water rights.
8. Water shall be conserved through sustainable agriculture and encouraging plant-based diets.
9. Water resources shall be protected from pollution.
10. Our children shall be educated about the essential nature of water for maintaining life.""
I think this is where he loses me (and all the cattle ranchers big & small, the restaurant owners, the butcher shops, the cattle feed people, etc). I'm a big fan of water conservation. It should be a no-brainer. But this is a bit off the deep end, and I CERTAINLY don't want my water controlled to that extent by the Federal Government. The Feds are the same people who have compromised our personal information a total of 4 times in 5 years... I don't want them to have this much control over what I MUST ingest to stay alive. Remember when Bush decided that a little more Arsenic in our water was an OK thing? Do you want the Federal Government to tell you that you will now be a vegetarian? No, I want off that ride. I'm pretty earthy-crunchy, and I'm a fan of change, but that's taking it too far. It will never work, and I don't want it to.
So he GETS it... he just wont SAY it...
BUT... similar to (or perhaps better than) my quest for an arms-style green energy race (whole new meaning to "cold war"), Kucinich has proposed a "Works Green Administration (WGA)". The WGA, a new version of the WPA (Works Progress Administration from the New Deal Era), would be coupled with NASA & the EPA to restore our infrastructure & provided sustainable energy at the same time. I can only imagine that this would mean a more European-style highway system, covered in solar panels (hey- it's better than billboards - but with today's technology you could actually have both at the same time & place).
"The United States under a Kucinich presidency would reverse the unsustainable actions in the following areas:
1) Energy consumption
2) Military spending
3) Economic and tax policy
4) Environmental policy
5) Land and water use"
He goes on to say some interesting things about water (a subject near & dear to my heart):
""All water shall be considered to be forever in the public domain. It shall be the duty of each nation to provide accessible, affordable drinking water to its peoples. There shall be public ownership of drinking water systems, subject to municipal control Wealthy nations shall provide poor nations with the means to obtain water for survival. Water shall be protected from commodification and exempted from all trade agreements. Water privatization shall not be a condition of debt restructuring, loan renewal or loan forgiveness. Governments shall use their powers to prevent private aggregation of water rights. Water shall be conserved through sustainable agriculture and encouraging plant-based diets. Water resources shall be protected from pollution. Our children should be educated about the essential nature of water for maintaining life. [I would] recommend a series of declarative sentences which can serve as the basis for a course of action. We shall call these ten principles "Water Marks."
1. All water shall be considered to be forever in the public domain.
2. It shall be the duty of each nation to provide accessible, affordable drinking water.
3. There shall be public ownership of drinking water.
4. Wealthy nations shall provide poor nations with the means to obtain water for survival.
5. Water shall be protected from commodification and exempted from all trade agreements.
6. Water privatization shall not be a condition of debt restructuring, loan renewal, or loan forgiveness.
7. Governments shall use their powers to prevent private aggregation of water rights.
8. Water shall be conserved through sustainable agriculture and encouraging plant-based diets.
9. Water resources shall be protected from pollution.
10. Our children shall be educated about the essential nature of water for maintaining life.""
I think this is where he loses me (and all the cattle ranchers big & small, the restaurant owners, the butcher shops, the cattle feed people, etc). I'm a big fan of water conservation. It should be a no-brainer. But this is a bit off the deep end, and I CERTAINLY don't want my water controlled to that extent by the Federal Government. The Feds are the same people who have compromised our personal information a total of 4 times in 5 years... I don't want them to have this much control over what I MUST ingest to stay alive. Remember when Bush decided that a little more Arsenic in our water was an OK thing? Do you want the Federal Government to tell you that you will now be a vegetarian? No, I want off that ride. I'm pretty earthy-crunchy, and I'm a fan of change, but that's taking it too far. It will never work, and I don't want it to.
Step it up?
So I've been getting emails about Step It Up 2007. A "National Day of Climate Action" where we try to get presidential candidates to discuss their environmental policy in public, all on the same day (Nov. 3). The most local event to me is in Concord, MA.
So far, only 3 Presidential hopefuls have said they will attend one of the many events: Senator John McCain, John Edwards & Representative Dennis Kucinich.
In reading McCain's website about his "environmental policy", his language struck me as a bit odd. Exactly HOW MANY buzz words can you fit into a statement about environmental policy that says nothing relevant at all? This is how it reads: "buzz word", "republican buzz word" and "liberal bad buzz word" He ends up saying essentially nothing relevant at all. Nothing says "I don't have a CLUE" like what he wrote. I kind of feel ill having read that. It was certainly a waste of my time.
As a friend said: "I read this and my mind just goes blank. It doesn't want to deal with processing it. I just can't...."
And McCain is one of the guys who agreed to go! Ugh.
Up until this point, I hadn't ruled anyone but Mitt Romney out - Romney is a tool and he tried his hardest to destroy our state. Not to mention that Mitt can't figure out what he believes in, let alone tell anyone else why they should believe in him.
I don't have the heart to research what Edwards & Kucinich have to say about the matter at this point...
But I have to admit. I did invite Sen. Clinton (as did 280 or so other people). I actually like what she had to say about the environment. It made me a bit hopeful. She seems to be following my line of thought that all we need is a sort of 'alternative energy arms-type race' with her "Apollo-like Program dedicated to achieving energy independence" (THAT is going to require a better name, and more detail, I think, which is why I invited her... "Green Arms Race" would be better than that). My biggest hope? She'll take it to the next level, create a cabinet position regarding the issue, and appoint Gore to that position... And then maybe somebody will actually get something done.
So far, only 3 Presidential hopefuls have said they will attend one of the many events: Senator John McCain, John Edwards & Representative Dennis Kucinich.
In reading McCain's website about his "environmental policy", his language struck me as a bit odd. Exactly HOW MANY buzz words can you fit into a statement about environmental policy that says nothing relevant at all? This is how it reads: "buzz word", "republican buzz word" and "liberal bad buzz word" He ends up saying essentially nothing relevant at all. Nothing says "I don't have a CLUE" like what he wrote. I kind of feel ill having read that. It was certainly a waste of my time.
As a friend said: "I read this and my mind just goes blank. It doesn't want to deal with processing it. I just can't...."
And McCain is one of the guys who agreed to go! Ugh.
Up until this point, I hadn't ruled anyone but Mitt Romney out - Romney is a tool and he tried his hardest to destroy our state. Not to mention that Mitt can't figure out what he believes in, let alone tell anyone else why they should believe in him.
I don't have the heart to research what Edwards & Kucinich have to say about the matter at this point...
But I have to admit. I did invite Sen. Clinton (as did 280 or so other people). I actually like what she had to say about the environment. It made me a bit hopeful. She seems to be following my line of thought that all we need is a sort of 'alternative energy arms-type race' with her "Apollo-like Program dedicated to achieving energy independence" (THAT is going to require a better name, and more detail, I think, which is why I invited her... "Green Arms Race" would be better than that). My biggest hope? She'll take it to the next level, create a cabinet position regarding the issue, and appoint Gore to that position... And then maybe somebody will actually get something done.
Voting Day! (updated)
For those of us who are in whatever congressional district (5th?) has a vacant seat in congress, today is voting day. And while I don't necessarily care, I know I should. I'll vote anyway.
Roland S. Martin (whoever that guy is) has posted a brilliant article on CNN's website. It should have been called "you should care, damnit - otherwise you're an idiot". Downside: nowhere in there does he mention the climate & energy issues facing us. But it's a start. Mr. Martin has a radio show on WVON - an AM talk radio station in Chicago - from 6-9 a.m. Monday thru Friday. They stream via internet. I think I'll give a listen next week (apparently, he's out this week). He might just have a clue. And people with a clue are somewhat hard to find.
UPDATE: got this email from the Town this evening after the polls closed:
STATE ELECTION Special 10/12/2007
Total voting: 844
Total registered voters: 3056
Percent voting: 27.6%
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
Jim Ogonowski 382
Nicola S. Tsongas 404
Kurt Hayes 40
Patrick O. Murphy 12
Kevin J. Thompson 6
Blanks 0
Write-ins 0
Roland S. Martin (whoever that guy is) has posted a brilliant article on CNN's website. It should have been called "you should care, damnit - otherwise you're an idiot". Downside: nowhere in there does he mention the climate & energy issues facing us. But it's a start. Mr. Martin has a radio show on WVON - an AM talk radio station in Chicago - from 6-9 a.m. Monday thru Friday. They stream via internet. I think I'll give a listen next week (apparently, he's out this week). He might just have a clue. And people with a clue are somewhat hard to find.
UPDATE: got this email from the Town this evening after the polls closed:
STATE ELECTION Special 10/12/2007
Total voting: 844
Total registered voters: 3056
Percent voting: 27.6%
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
Jim Ogonowski 382
Nicola S. Tsongas 404
Kurt Hayes 40
Patrick O. Murphy 12
Kevin J. Thompson 6
Blanks 0
Write-ins 0
That means that 27.6% of the people in my town voted. My husband & I consisted of 0.1% of the total vote. That just seems WRONG.
Come on, people, they had FREE CANDY there! And there was certainly no line...
Monday, October 15, 2007
I heart...the Vatican? Wow.
I'm not a fan of religion. All it does is lead to war, to putting people into an "us vs. them" mentality, and causes all sorts of fanatics to hurt each other, often times taking along us innocent bystanders with them. Think about it- every major war in history was either based on religion or egged on by it (or religion was used as a veil for political dominance aspirations). Based on this long standing belief of mine, I was very surprised by a story that I heard on NPR this morning.
The Vatican is trying to go carbon neutral (the Pope hopes to install solar cells & preserve forests -do they have forests in the Vatican, or does he want to go with a carbon offset?). Pope Benedict XVI held a conference on global warming. The catholic church is listening to scientists. This is the same church that spawned the inquisition! But maybe there is hope yet.
"The Vatican considers global warming a pressing issue — in part because there is evidence that man is contributing to the problem, and in part because the effects will be felt most intensely by the poor."
This statement says a lot. A) The Catholic Church leaders are listening to science instead of persecuting the scientists. Think about that for a minute. B) The Catholic Church is stepping where leaders of some developed countries couldn't be bothered - to save those people on the so called margins of society - the poor. The Church recognizes this as a big social issue, a global social issue, (complete with real evidence) and not some theoretical discussion. The Catholic Church is saying that this is real, and needs attention.
I never, EVER thought that the Catholic Church would be more progressive than the President of the United States. Bushy should be ashamed of himself - he was one upped by the Catholic Church - an institution with a very poor track record when it comes to science.
Apparently, the church has decided that while the bible does say that man has dominance over the earth that "God" created, humans have to take responsibility of the earth as it's stewards on behalf of "God", and to clean up the mess we have made of "God's" creation. I could dance little circles up and down Main Street for this idea. I'm willing to ignore the other issues with this statement (umm...creationism?) in order to support the church in their attempt to practice stewardship.
Additionally, the NPR story mentioned above depicts how church leaders are trying to tell their followers that hurricanes & Volacanos aren't the will of God. It's not God's fault, it's ours. At this point, you might be falling off your chair. I'll wait.
The Vatican is trying to go carbon neutral (the Pope hopes to install solar cells & preserve forests -do they have forests in the Vatican, or does he want to go with a carbon offset?). Pope Benedict XVI held a conference on global warming. The catholic church is listening to scientists. This is the same church that spawned the inquisition! But maybe there is hope yet.
"The Vatican considers global warming a pressing issue — in part because there is evidence that man is contributing to the problem, and in part because the effects will be felt most intensely by the poor."
This statement says a lot. A) The Catholic Church leaders are listening to science instead of persecuting the scientists. Think about that for a minute. B) The Catholic Church is stepping where leaders of some developed countries couldn't be bothered - to save those people on the so called margins of society - the poor. The Church recognizes this as a big social issue, a global social issue, (complete with real evidence) and not some theoretical discussion. The Catholic Church is saying that this is real, and needs attention.
I never, EVER thought that the Catholic Church would be more progressive than the President of the United States. Bushy should be ashamed of himself - he was one upped by the Catholic Church - an institution with a very poor track record when it comes to science.
Apparently, the church has decided that while the bible does say that man has dominance over the earth that "God" created, humans have to take responsibility of the earth as it's stewards on behalf of "God", and to clean up the mess we have made of "God's" creation. I could dance little circles up and down Main Street for this idea. I'm willing to ignore the other issues with this statement (umm...creationism?) in order to support the church in their attempt to practice stewardship.
Additionally, the NPR story mentioned above depicts how church leaders are trying to tell their followers that hurricanes & Volacanos aren't the will of God. It's not God's fault, it's ours. At this point, you might be falling off your chair. I'll wait.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
cool imagery
Update on the NW Passage: This is a pretty cool satellite image of the Northwest Passage from mid-September, with major landmarks depicted. I suggest you take some time to poke around the EO Natural Hazards website (NASA) - there are some just plain cool images on there, and they are really sharp.
For instance, here is a satellite image of hail damaged crops in Montana back in June. Apparently, the hail stripped the leaves off of the vegetation, resulting in a loss of 'green' areas as seen from space. And this image shows just how overly green Texas is because of it's over abundant rain & flooding this year - and it also depicts drought conditions in Oklahoma to the northeast.
In reading today's Boston Globe, I came across an article that discussed some insurance companies not renewing homeowners policies along the coast of Massachusetts. One woman who lives in East Boston was featured in the article - she can't even see the ocean from her house. I'm thinking here that maybe the homeowner & the author of the article are missing the bigger picture... Yes, the insurance companies are trying to limit their liabilty, and yes, it sucks to loose your insurance. BUT, you've got to wonder why... there has got to be some hard science & good reasoning behind why the insurance companies aren't willing to take on some policies. "Blocks" away from the ocean is not going to help much with a drastic sea level rise. I don't think it's just the increase in storm frequency & intensity that has them worried, but it also has something to do with projected (and unprojected) sea level rises. At a 2 meter sea level rise, East Boston starts to look a little soggy - at 7 meters, it looks largely underwater (this map goes up to 14 meters).
For instance, here is a satellite image of hail damaged crops in Montana back in June. Apparently, the hail stripped the leaves off of the vegetation, resulting in a loss of 'green' areas as seen from space. And this image shows just how overly green Texas is because of it's over abundant rain & flooding this year - and it also depicts drought conditions in Oklahoma to the northeast.
In reading today's Boston Globe, I came across an article that discussed some insurance companies not renewing homeowners policies along the coast of Massachusetts. One woman who lives in East Boston was featured in the article - she can't even see the ocean from her house. I'm thinking here that maybe the homeowner & the author of the article are missing the bigger picture... Yes, the insurance companies are trying to limit their liabilty, and yes, it sucks to loose your insurance. BUT, you've got to wonder why... there has got to be some hard science & good reasoning behind why the insurance companies aren't willing to take on some policies. "Blocks" away from the ocean is not going to help much with a drastic sea level rise. I don't think it's just the increase in storm frequency & intensity that has them worried, but it also has something to do with projected (and unprojected) sea level rises. At a 2 meter sea level rise, East Boston starts to look a little soggy - at 7 meters, it looks largely underwater (this map goes up to 14 meters).
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