Technological Advances Must Respect The Environment

GE has announced that they will phase out the production of CFL bulbs by the end of the year. The heir to household illumination will be LED bulbs. Other manufacturers are sure to follow. Applause! We will now have access to even more energy efficient light bulbs. Before we get carried away with a standing ovation, let us remember what the demise of CFL will mean in terms pollution. These gadgets rely on mercury to do their job. One just does not throw in the trash barrel once their usefulness has ended. Home Depot will accept them for recycling but I wonder what will happen when more and more CFL's are disposed of.

It would be worthy of a standing ovation if along with ceasing production of CFL's, corporations would also announce a program to make sure that the mercury in CFL's does not make our fragile environment even more fragile.

Advancement in technology is great as long as being responsive to the dangers these advancements may pose is part of the progress.

Where have the statesmen gone?

Where have the statesmen and or stateswomen, enlightened leaders and dedicated legislators gone? They must be out there someplace. Or have they been repelled by greedy politicians? Low blow! I'm sure the preference is pragmatic politicians. Whatever or whoever they are, our representatives are letting us down. Politicians have made it perfectly clear that their first loyalty is to their political party. If there is any loyalty to spare their countrymen may be tossed a bone.

Needed legislation is on a merry-go-round.The chances of  immigration reform are practically nil until the mid-term elections are over. Raise the minimum wage? Don't bet on it - another third rail before elections. As a matter of fact any meaningful bill that impacts the wealth of the one per-centers is dead on arrival. They have so many congressional wimps in their hip pocket. Then there is gun control. The NRA not only has Congressmen in its hip pocket it has most potential presidential candidates in its front pocket.

Any action designed to fight global warming has about as much of a chance as a snowball in hell. Climate change action not only is a no-no around election time, it is a no-no supported by "Big Money" lobbyists year 'round. As one politician after another stands in denial of global warming, one can picture Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Not even the scientific evidence that the Antarctica ice shelf has disintegrated has stirred much comment in government circles. For that matter, neither has the media taken up the fight for climate control. Everyone is too busy with the NBA team owner scandal and the NFL draft.

It could be argued that once the midterm elections are over the new Congress will set aside witch hunts and will address the problems facing the country with a sincere desire to resolve them. Whoa!! Someone is forgetting that the big prize is up for grabs in 2016. There will be no time to focus on any action which might give one party or the other an edge. There will only be time for posturing and digging up material to destroy a perceived front runner.

Lets face it. Modern politics in the United States is all about winning elections. Nothing wrong with that except it has become a full time effort. Its as though the legislative branch of government is on a perennial recess. What to do?  Reform campaign laws - fat chance. A strong executive branch willing to lead at all cost might help but that's where I began. Where are these statesmen and enlightened leaders?

Will Nero Fiddle While Rome Burns

There is enough in the daily headlines to make one scream, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore" (Peter Finch in the 1976 movie Network). One recent headline, Heat - Trapping Gas Passes Milestone, Raising Fears, was upsetting enough to make one scream, "Stop the world, I want to get off". The headline appeared in a New York Times article which reported:

The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the earth for millions of years.

I'm fearful that we are not ready to make the commitment to effectively reverse this deadly trend. President Kennedy had the chutzpah to get us into space. I hope that President Obama has the chutzpah to get us back to earth. I hope President Obama has the balls to put together the meaningful programs required to reverse the carbon dioxide trend. I hope that we will give him our unqualified support.  I hope that it is not too late.

(The forgoing admittedly was written out of frustration. Realistically I'm afraid that an offensive against carbon dioxide levels will have to wait for the Administration to fight its defensive battles concerning Benghazi, IRS blunders, Justice Department seizure of AP phone records and Republican vendettas. The danger from rising carbon dioxide levels must reach a crisis before politics puts it on the front burner. In the meantime Nero must fiddle while Rome burns. )

Hail The Dandelion

 I hereby proclaim the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) this blog's official weed; long live the dandelion ( and it will)! The dandelion is a lion among Mother Nature's gifts to the environment. Those who detest dandelions might as well put away their weapons of mass destruction. Dandelions are indestructible and are unsurpassed in loyalty. They roar back each Spring and their yellow flower brings color to drab green lawns. A dandelion's vibrant flower eventually turns to seeds which are seized by friendly winds and deposited on lawns all over the neighborhood so that endless generations of dandelions will rise up to torment landscapers.

Before those lovely dandelion flowers turn to seed, wine connoisseurs have been known to harvest them and turn them into wine. I must admit I have never imbibed in dandelion wine in spite of the urging of an eccentric friend of mine. I just did not trust his wine making ability after a case of homemade beer exploded in his basement. Speaking of basement, what sane person would build a sailing boat in his basement? He did and as far as I know, the only floating that the boat did was during a heavy rainfall which flooded the basement.

The fondest memory I have of dandelions goes back to my youth; yes, that was a long, long time ago, proving that Alzheimer is not at my doorstep. Now, what was I saying? Oh yes, as a youngster I watched little old Italian immigrant ladies walk east by my house carrying an empty sack. Later in the day I watched them walk west by my house with a full sack over their shoulder. They had been to the municipal park and spent the afternoon picking dandelions. My mother told me that the content of those sacks would provide some tasty meals. Let me be quick to add that my mother was not a dandelion picker and never prepared a dandelion meal.

So what's with dandelion meals? It turns out that dandelions are a rich source vitamin A, B Complex, C and D, as well as minerals such as iron, potassium, and zinc. Not surprisingly, like most greens, dandelions find their way into salads, sauces and bread . I would hasten to mention that since civilization is bent on eradicating them by .the liberal use of herbicides it should also make them suspect as a food.

One might ask that since I don't drink dandelion wine or eat dandelion salads full of vitamins, why have I honored dandelions as the official weed of this blog? More to the point, is it really necessary? The answers my friend are that I don't really know and no, but if you got this far - mission accomplished. All hail the dandelion!

Will Toilets Go Paperless?

Whether by snail mail, e-mail or simply accessing your financial instution's web site you are beseeched to forgo paper statements. Go green! Go paperless! Earn a reward by opting to receive your statements on the Internet. It's not limited to financial institutions. Anyone who owes you an accounting of transactions is on the bandwagon to clean up the environment, or so they would have you believe.

So far I've resisted going paperless. A large part of this resistance comes from my high primal thinker. "What if something happens to our computer, we'll be stuck with some late payment fees. What about the people who don't have a computer? No, no no!" That's enough for me. Still if the high primal didn't give a damn, I'd have a problem with this latest hypocrisy of Big Business. They have never done any thing voluntarily for the good of American people - it has always taken legislation, which in these days they are seeking to control. Anything they do voluntarily such as urging us to protect the environment by going paperless is not motivated by a desire to do what's good for the country. There's a buck in it for them. Why else would they use more paper urging us to use less paper. Is it possible that going  paperless is a sure bet to save them money through fewer jobs and the increased opportunity for late payment or overdraft fees.

As for fees, I'm sure that they will play their trump card in the very near future. Sign up for paperless or pay a monthly fee to receive a paper statement by mail. That is the price we will pay for allowing Congress and the President to have the audacity to legislate meaningful credit card and financial legislation.

While we are increasingly urged to save a tree by going paperless, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. All sales of toilet paper will cease by 2020. Red blooded Americans will be urged to buy some fancy contraption which cleanses the soiled body parts sans paper. If they can't afford this new contraption, recycling newspapers will be their only alternative. Hopefully, newspapers will still be around.

My, My - The Brits Don't Like Our BP Bad Mouthing

“British investors in BP are growing increasingly frustrated with the White House’s involvement and comments about the company’s efforts to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and partly blame politicians for the sharp drop in the share price” according to a report in the New York Times. It appears that the United States government and victims of the worst ever environmental disaster are being too hard on the beloved British Petroleum of the United Kingdom.

Its all about money! As BP shares plummet, in Britain there is more concern about the poor stockholders and less concern about the environmental fiasco BP is responsible for. Some quotes to get your blood boiling or as the Brits say “ too get your tea boiling”.

• “BP has many problems in the U.S., One of them is that it has the word British in its title.”

•  “It’s a totally over politicized situation. There is a disconnect between reality and BP being totally lambasted.”

•  “We don’t have all the press coverage that’s over there and we’re further away from U.S. politics. We have a more rational view.”

•  “What people forget is that if anyone breaks a pipeline, you’d thank god that it was a company that can actually pay for it”.

The next step may very well be for the Brits to man a full court press in an attempt to get Washington to take it easy on poor BP. Barack should invite them to Louisiana to discuss the problem in a town hall meeting. The Brits may learn that it is not the word British that is BP’s problem, it’s the word petroleum and it doesn’t belong on the beaches and the marshlands.