So, we’ve had a bit of a cold spell, with some nights getting to 9 below zero…brrr.  And I hadn’t used my car, of course, with nowhere to go, so I was apprehensive that it wouldn’t start after sitting for a week.  I was delighted when it did start right up with just a little hesitation.

Another week goes by, and I’m still leery because the poor thing is eighteen years old and with no funds to keep it well maintained…well, let’s just say that I’m grateful every time it starts.

The new battery does seem to be working. Yay!  The old battery? No way.  The car wouldn’t start when it was ten above zero.  So I have to give credit where it is due — NAPA.  Except for the period of the last couple years, I have had NAPA batteries for about twenty years or so.  They guaranteed the battery and would replace it for free if it failed in the first eighteen months, and after that, they would pro-rate it according to its age.  I’ve only had one time that the battery failed, and they did replace it.  So, yeah, giving them a plug, and no, I don’t own any NAPA stock nor do I get any financial reimbursement from them.

And the Michelin tires are once again getting me through drifts and ice and all that winter brings.  I could just do a dance when I make it home safe! 🙂

Today, I got a special treat when I ventured out — I was on the highway when something high up in a tree caught my eye.  A hawk? No, this bird was huge with a white breast.  An eagle!  No, a pair of eagles!  Awesome.  I had heard that one was making a nest near the river, but only caught a glimpse of a young eagle swooping over the bridge near the river. **actually, it might be an osprey –the only eagle with a white belly is in Africa…yeah, no waaay it is going to be here! Ha.

***edited again:  okay, further investigation, and this page’s author states that eagles with decreased pigmentation can have white breasts.  That is not a good sign of health.  I’m hoping that it was an osprey or a huge hawk I saw.

I’ve also been seeing a crane that positions itself in between the four lane highway.  I was worried about it because it stayed here instead of going farther south.  I hope that it took off before the 9 below (-25 wind chill) got here.

Just being grateful for the “little” gifts….:)

A really good piece that compiles all the different aspects of influence in Washington.  Be sure to click on the Boston Globe link — War for Sale to the highest bidder.  It is just mindboggling that the U.S. Generals in charge of keeping foreign governments from stealing our technology are turning around and helping to sell arms to foreign countries when they retire from service.

The feeder system from some commands to certain defense firms is so powerful that successive generations of commanders have been hired by the same firms or into the same field. For example, the last seven generals and admirals who worked as Department of Defense gatekeepers for international arms sales are now helping military contractors sell weapons and defense technology overseas.

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Representative Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, a retired three-star admiral, said that when he was in uniform he saw firsthand the influence retired admirals have when they are brought in to advise the Navy.

“Rank did mean something. The principal guy in the room really drove the thing. There is a hesitancy to question them,’’ he said. “If there isn’t transparency or knowledge of who they are working for when they are advising the Pentagon, you are building a military that is not all it can be.’’

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Does anyone have any ethics or morals, anymore?

Josh Healey has a piece up on the massacre at Charlie Hebdo.  I am not Charlie.  From all accounts, it is a rag for bigots and I won’t support that.  I also won’t support Muslims who use religion as a reason for violence.  The people who publish such drivel are small minded and should be ignored, not murdered in cold blood for something that is meaningless.  It does not take away from the sacred religion — it can’t.  But killing someone in the name of religion, does take away from the sacred.

Awesome.

common dreams has a post up on action being taken against Keystone XL.  Protests all over the country are listed and you can put your zip code in to find a local protest.

Score one for Freedom of the Press!!  James Risen has been taken off the list as a government witness, and the indication is that he has won his case to keep his sources private, as reporters should be able to do.  Their ability to investigate the government, or wherever there is wrongdoing, depends on keeping those who speak to them secret.  Otherwise, we have a chilling effect, where a source may know of wrongdoing, but afraid to speak out, lest they be punished, as we have seen with James Risen.

And, as the writer states, what if this has been a less well-known reporter?  Someone without the backing of others?

Mother Nature Network has a post up on the clean up of Superfund sites.  I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that we CAN clean up toxic spills and everything goes back to the way it was before. Not.  As you will see, clean up is just moving the toxic waste to another spot.  It can’t be undone.  (Think toothpaste back into the tube).  The really egregious part of this charade of a shell game is that the toxic stuff will likely be moved to a poor neighborhood.

Silver Bow Creek in Montana is truly alarming and really grasps the horror of toxic spills — the creek is sooo badly polluted that they are using it as a resource for mining metals!!  Geese that drank the water died from eroded esophagus’s and internal organ damage.  And when the water table reaches a certain height, the creek is going to overflow into drinking water sources.

People just think we can move toxic stuff from here to there and everything will just fine.  But as we see with this and with the Michigan oil spill, you can only move toxic stuff around for so long before there are no more spaces to move it to — and we reach a point of no clean water to drink, no clean land to grow nontoxic food, and no clean air to breathe.  We’re killing ourselves.