happy earth day
Just for some fun….
A list of the things you could buy someone to celebrate the Earth:
1.) Buy your loved one a big bunch of perfect red roses…. the Earth LOVES creating flowers through genetic alteration, over fertilization and a good dousing of pesticides…. cause nothing says I love you more than lack of originality and giving the same thing every schmo is giving!
2.) send a greeting card: old growth forest have managed to stick around for THOUSANDS of years to make sure Hallmark can make a profit. Those trees sure are generous to us!
3.) Surprise your partner by switching out her birth control pills with a placebo… there is no better way to tell her you are ready for a kid! Besides, what’s another few kids in the face of billions?
4.) Gardening your thing… there ain’t nothing that says loving like the 36″ high pressure watering broom hose. I mean.. I know they say we can’t wash down cement… but it all goes to the ocean!
5.) The auto industry needs help, and you have a ton of kids… go buy that Range Rover you’ve been drooling over. Besides… its green!
6.) Thinking of a romantic dinner? There is no better way to say “I love you AND the Earth” more than a factory farmed, hormone filled, grain fed slab of beef… medium rare, hold the veggies!
and lastly…
7.) we may only have cold weather for a few more years, so why not enjoy it while you can… either one of you can wear the polar bear fur coat. I mean… they are dying anyway, and recycling is A HUGE priority for you….
HAPPY EARTH DAY!!! This is a day to think of IT before you think of yourself…..
my precious-s-s-s-s-s-s
There has been a lot posted about water in the last few days, that I thought I would do a group post for all of the articles.
If you read here often, you know that I care a great deal about water and its longevity as a resource. Having grown up in California during the 70′s, I was exposed to a state that was in constant awareness of our water supply. Even in times of plenty, the scarcity mentality has remained. I worry about the rumors I hear of large corporations buying up large supplies of water, so that they can one day make a profit out of our need for a basic life building block, just as much as I worry about sea levels rising and wiping out communities that have every right to exist.
I hope when I post articles about water that you read from the perspective that water is life.
AP IMPACT: Tons of released drugs taint US water
U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water – contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation.
Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.
Effective July 1, the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California reduced supplies its member public agencies for the first time since 1991.
The financial impacts of higher Delta costs due to supply reductions caused by new regulatory restraints also were primary factors behind a rate increase approved by the board in a separate action. The rate increase will take effect Sept. 1.
“Up to 19 million Southern Californians this summer will feel the impact of a new water reality that has been in the making for years, if not decades,” said Metropolitan board Chair Timothy F. Brick.
Changing Rains, via National Geographic
Warm air holds more water vapor—itself a greenhouse gas—so a hotter world is a world where the atmosphere contains more moisture. (For every degree Celsius that air temperatures increase, a given amount of air near the surface holds roughly 7 percent more water vapor.) This will not necessarily translate into more rain—in fact, most scientists believe that total precipitation will increase only modestly—but it is likely to translate into changes in where the rain falls. It will amplify the basic dynamics that govern rainfall: In certain parts of the world, moist air tends to rise, and in others, the moisture tends to drop out as rain and snow.
Blue Gold: Have the Next Resource Wars Begun, via The Nation
It has often been said that water is “blue gold” and the next resource wars will be fought, not over oil, but over water. Maude Barlow, senior advisor to the United Nations on water issues, wrotethat the way in which we view water “will in large part determine whether our future is peaceful or perilous.”
The British nonprofit International Alert released a report identifying forty-six countries where water and climate stresses could ignite violent conflict by 2025, prompting the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to affirm, “The consequences for humanity are grave. Water scarcity threatens economic and social gains and is a potent fuel for wars and conflict.”
room for journalists in climate change
In a report out of the latest meeting of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the number one sentiment was that journalists were not doing their job in getting the word out about the severity of this whole global warming thing.
In fact, Katherine Richardson from the University of Copenhagen said that a new strategy is needed for communicating climate change, one that sidesteps journalists, and the money-making organizations they work for, entirely, according to Nature.
But the author of the report brings up a relevant issue: if the scientists don’t talk to the journailists, ensuring accurate data.. who will?
Authorities on climate change are irreplaceable in informing the media, whether they do so by being a reliable source for science reporters, by writing op-eds in mainstream newspapers or by contributing to blogs. With recent cuts in core science reporting staff, such as those at CNN, it is especially vital that scientists continue this service to society. It would be better still if they combined this with more direct communication through avenues such as blogs, which are becoming increasingly important resources for reporters and interested citizens (Nature 458, 274–277; 2009). But such efforts should be seen as complementary to, rather than as a replacement for, mainstream media. By embracing both, scientists may well see their messages begin to permeate more effectively.
quote of the day, 4/14/09
“Recklessness is the only word. I mean, we have to recognise the scale of the risk. If we go on at anything like business as usual, we’ll be at concentration levels by the end of this century which will give us around a 50-50 chance of being above five degrees centigrade relative to, say, the 19th century. We humans are only 100,000 years old. We haven’t seen that for 30 to 50 million years. We haven’t seen three degrees centigrade for three million years. The idea that humans can easily adapt to conditions like these …” He lets the proposition tail away, too foolish even for words.
unions
So, I will not pretend to know much about unions. I know some people swear by them, others think they are awful. All I know is I had family members that were in a union and I was told to never cross a picket line.
Therefore I am posting this article in order to let you decide for yourself what you think of it all… maybe add a comment to educate me and the other readers why unions are good or bad. Will this article change your opinion of going to Starbucks or Whole Foods? Do you think it is right that two of the largest American companies are doing something illegal, despite your position on unions?
Are Starbucks and Whole Foods Union Busters?, via Mother Jones
Shortly before the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the manager of a Whole Foods grocery store in the San Francisco Bay Area gathered his employees in a conference room for a chat about labor organizing. “This is not a union-bashing thing whatsoever,” the manager began, adding, however, that he’d called the meeting because Whole Foods believed Obama would sign the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation intended to ease unionization that was opposed by the company’s lobbyists. According to a tape of the meeting obtained by Mother Jones, the manager went on to imply that joining a union would lead to reprisals: “It’s interesting to note that once you become represented by the union,” he said, “basically everything, every benefit you have, is kind of thrown out the window, and you renegotiate a contract.”
“I think it’s probably fair to construe [that comment] as a threat,” concluded Tim Peck, a representative of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in San Francisco, after Mother Jones read him quotes from the meeting, one of several anti-union trainings held by the company in recent months. Peck pointed out that labor law bars employers from threatening to strip benefits from workers in retaliation for unionizing. “The ‘flying out the window’ [comment] kind of suggests that the benefits are gone,” he noted. Legally, “that wouldn’t pass muster.”
THIS is how you treat your children
Aboriginal leaders say they’ll evacuate 700 kids affected by harmful fumes, via Canadian News
A remote First Nations community in northern Ontario is preparing to evacuate about 700 children over fears that harmful fuel fumes are making them ill, an aboriginal leader said Thursday.
Plans are underway to airlift the children out of Attawapiskat First Nation near James Bay this month, even though it could cost millions of dollars, said Grand Chief Stan Louttit.
“Both levels of government refuse to help,” he said.
please make Mc-D’s a Mc-Don’t
Seriously. SERIOUSLY.
After you read this, if you need further proof that the agri-business, fast food, triple hamburger on every corner industry is not serving your best interest… well then, I hate to say it, but there is no hope for you.
McDonald’s Aims for a Low-Pesticide Potato for Its French Fries, via Reuters.
McDonald’s, the largest fast-food chain the world and the largest buyer of potatoes in the United States, is under pressure from shareholders to do something about pesticide use on the potatoes it buys. To avoid a shareholder resolution on the subject, McDonald’s has agreed to “survey its U.S. suppliers compile a list of best practices in pesticide reduction and recommend those best practices to its global suppliers.
Essentially, three major shareholders was threatening to demand that McDonald’s reduce its purchasing of pesticide laden potatoes. But, since corporate decided to look into it on their own, it is not a “requirement”, as much as it is a, “it would be nice if you were to do this, please.”
First off, yummy to the pesticide filled french fries you all have been ingesting, unknowingly.
Second, just some information:
Potatoes have been on or near the list of the Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen foods with the most pesticide residue for years. That means, according to a government analysis, that after a typical person buys a typical potato and prepares it in a typical way, it’s among the fruits and vegetables most likely to be laced with pesticides.
“Farmers often spray on a weekly basis, or even more frequently to try to prevent blight. They also spray herbicides to kill the tops of the plants at the end of the growing season to make the underground tubers easier to harvest. Over 40 toxic pesticides are used on potatoes including ethoprop, mancozeb, chlorothalonil, EPTC and metribuzin.
Most of these pesticides are linked to serious chronic effects such as cancer, endocrine disruption and reproductive/developmental effects. Many leach to groundwater and contaminate surface waters. Intensive potato cultivation and pesticides usage have been implicated in the high rates of rare cancers in young children in rural western Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. The island farming community of about 14,000 has experienced occurrences of osteosarcoma, several lymphomas, Ewing’s sarcoma, and a number of myeloid leukemia cases, all among children.”
So, the good news is that McDonald’s is under pressure to put its growers under pressure. And, they are in a position to do that, since they buy a lot of potatoes. The bad news.. is it too little too late? And, pressure is one thing, demanding is another.
vegetarian for one day
Americans are addicted to their meat. They eat a lot of it. Too much, actually.
A recent United Nations report concluded that the meat industry causes almost 40% more greenhouse gas emissions than all the world’s transportation systems — that means ALL of the globe’s cars, trucks, planes and ships COMBINED. This accounts for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions into our atmosphere.
So, one reporter went on a mission to find out what could happen if every American went without meat for one day. Here are the statistics:
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:
- 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months;
- 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year;
- 70 million gallons of gas — enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare;
- 3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware;
- 33 tons of antibiotics.
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:
- Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France;
- 3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting economic damages;
- 4.5 million tons of animal excrement;
- Almost 7 tons of ammonia emissions, a major air pollutant.
Don’t you think for all these benefits, it might be worth a try? And then, after you try one day, try two days. And just ever so slightly increase the vegetarian days… and think of how this one VERY SIMPLE thing could change the world!
For the original article go HERE.
this is not good news
So, where do I start.
I have written before about how one reason the polar ice cap is melting is because as chunks break off there is more surface area exposed to the water, which is warmer, which then accelerates the melting.
There is a “bridge” in the Antarctic that has been preventing a certain area, the Wilkins Ice Shelf from greater risk of melting, because it has been acting as a barrier. Well, it broke away yesterday. Giving scientists greater fear that the polar cap is melting much faster than originally thought.
The article can be found via BBC News.
Here is video of the region…
i’m tired of writing articles like this
So.. something was discovered LAST MONTH and the news is just making its way to the web.
Traces of a chemical used in rocket fuel were found in samples of powdered baby formula, and could exceed what’s considered a safe dose for adults if mixed with water also contaminated with the ingredient, a government study has found.
The study by scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked for the chemical, perchlorate, in different brands of powdered baby formula. It was published last month, but the Environmental Working Group issued a press release Thursday drawing attention to it.
Here are some of the things wrong with this finding.
1.) The rocket fuel levels were high enough to exceed what is considered a safe dose for ADULT consumption. This was BABY food.
2.) The toxin affects thyroid function. The thyroids function: Every cell in the body depends upon thyroid hormones for regulation of their metabolism.
3.) the baby food also contains iodine because that counteracts the affects of rocket fuel…. this means that manufacturers know that there is a level of rocket fuel in the formula, and they try to mitigate its affect. THEY KNOW THERE IS ROCKET FUEL!!!
4.) Do you really want your babies to eat something labeled 100% pureed peas, when really it is like 98% pureed peas and then some iodine and then some rocket fuel. Yum!
5.) The largest levels of contaminants came from those made with cow milk. If you didn’t think dairy was bad for you before… are you getting it yet?
6.) oh yeah… the researchers didn’t disclose the brands they studied… so you don’t know which ones to look out for. Nothing like patting the corporation on the back, instead of protecting the consumer.
It all just annoys me to NO END!!!
Stumble it!