Category Archives: sustainability

A discussion on population…

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Gene Logsdon has put up a post on his thoughts on population growth and food availability.

It’s a touchy and uncomfortable subject….to say the least.

It brings up eugenics–there are stories out there of people like Bill Gates and the Rockefellers advocating for population control via eugenics and even through genetically modified food.  There is a video out there of Bill Gates advocating vaccines for this purpose.  I don’t know what to make of the video, so I’m not posting it– you’ll have to go find it yourself.

I think advocating de-population is morally and ethically wrong.  We get into the self-righteous, superiority of those who think they are *more special* than the rest, therefore, they should live while others die.

The comments are as interesting as the blog–with one suggesting that the population growth perhaps was a spiritual one of bringing more light into the world….

…with that, I would disagree.  There is so much negative energy on Earth that I would happily volunteer to go right now if God would take me.   Just give me enough morphine to stop my heart, and I’m good to go…

Speaking of negative energy, I was just thinking last night how much I missed teaching.  I enjoyed it and the kids’ earnest quest for knowledge.  I also liked that I didn’t have to put up with office politics nor office gossip.  When I was teaching, I would stay in the room and eat my lunch so I didn’t have to hear the teachers gossip (yes, they gossiped…mostly about stupid substitutes…).  I went in, did my job, and went home while avoiding all of that negative energy.  I didn’t have to put up with the tired questioning of my single status–there is definitely a prejudice against single people in this country.  The downside, of course, is the pay and the work-on-demand instead of a steady schedule.

And if you try to avoid the gossip and cut people off…as some suggest you do…you’re still screwed because the gossips then turn on you as a target.  I’ve actually had that happen to me.  I ended up leaving a good job because of it.

I suppose the questioning of population growth is related to our bad economy…not enough jobs that pay living wages….while jobs are shipped to other countries for even lower wages…and Burger King and their ilk go to other countries so they don’t have to pay their fair share of taxes….while war hawks push us towards another war again…while not taxing the rich….

Yeah, I’m in a negative mood…how could you tell?  😦

 

The crises in Haiti continues…with the “help” of Bill and Hillary Clinton

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...disaster capitalists….(no wonder Hillary Clinton supports Israel’s bombing innocent Gazans…she probably wants a piece of the action, too, to gain financially from the “rebuilding” of Gaza.)

…because you know, the poor are just “useless eaters” (Hillary Clinton supposedly said that although I haven’t been able to confirm it.)

I have a question–why isn’t Bill Clinton in jail for misappropriation of funds?

My other posts on Haiti:

Earthships in Haiti (this would be a big help to the poor)

Where’s the money, Bill and Hillary??   Be sure to click on the mismanagement link–good source of info.

 

 

Psuedo Cisterns

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Gene Logsdon has an interesting post up on pseudo cisterns.  For those folks who cannot dig wells, it’s a good alternative to having water without electricity nor the bills that go with that…

Note in the comments that someone states it is illegal for someone to store rainwater…are you kidding me??  Looks like the utility companies are trying to interfere with one’s freedom of their own homes. 

And someone else stated that the rainwater wasn’t safe to drink…and I had to think of all the chemicals, prescription drugs, untreated fecal matter, and probably heavy metals, too,  in city water that is supposedly better for you?  bwahahaha….

Israel seeking to cash in on destruction

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If I am reading between the lines correctly, Israel is now seeking to cash in on the destruction it caused to Gaza.  My mind is just reeling. Disaster capitalism at the very worst.  Holy crap.

Yair Lapid announced a “diplomatic initiative” to increase efforts to “demilitarise Gaza and the transfer of authority in the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority (PA) while maintaining Israel’s strategic security interest.”

He called for Egypt to host a conference to be attended by the US, EU, Russia, Jordan, the PA and the Gulf States that would discuss Gaza reconstruction and establish “economic ties between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab world.”

“The initiative also calls for the involvement of states which will provide economic support for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip and the creation of projects which will lead to long term economic cooperation in the region,” the statement from Lapid’s media advisor said –

– See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-minister-calls-saudi-arabia-join-gaza-reconstruction-conference-757495015#sthash.JEM7OSbr.dpuf

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So…we have a bully that bombs the hell out of a place, destroying homes, schools, hospitals…killing women, children, innocents sitting in a cafe listening to the World Cup…who now wants to greedily make a profit off of rebuilding that which they destroyed.

Are you effing kidding me??  WTH?
The writer is perpetuating the lie that Saudi Arabia supported the destruction of Gaza, when King Abdullah made a strong statement to the contrary, and he accused Israel of war crimes.
So I would be surprised if Saudi Arabia would go along with Israel’s scheme.
This also lends credence to Palestinian claims that Israel had no intention on seeking agreement with Gaza on their demands and that they walked away from the negotiating table while Palestinian negotiators were still attempting to reach agreement.  Israel has had other plans all along.
And, as a side note~~~I read that a senior Hamas official’s wife and 7-month-old baby were killed in an assassination attempt.  While I don’t agree with Hamas violence, I do feel for the people of Gaza.  I am so sorry.
If I could, I would help you rebuild with sustainable housing where you could live without worry of being dependent on Israel.  Perhaps earthships would work for you…sustainable housing with water, solar heating, and the ability to grow your food….

Sea World stock tumbles

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Well, now.  Voting with the pocketbook.  Go us!!

Of course, there are those who see only $$$, and exclaim that “something needs to be done”.  Um, yeah, the public has expressed their wishes through not buying tickets to see caged whales and dolphins entertain them…that “something that needs to be done” is taking Tillikum back to the waters he was stolen from and return him.  Even if he only lasts a day, he will have died a free being…and I’m sure that would be priceless to him after being held in cages most of the day–only being allowed out to perform.

You would think Sea World would take heed and set them free.  Nope. 

 

 

 

ALEC interfering with local control

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This has got to be the worst that I’ve seen yet of ALEC.  When people get wise to what is happening, ALEC has devised a way to thwart their efforts to take back control through local governments and regulations–removing your right to self-governing and autonomy.  Their arrogance is mindboggling.

After years of trying to thwart local government, last week ALEC launched a new offshoot aimed at infiltrating it. The American City County Exchange (ACCE), had its first meeting last week, coinciding with ALEC’s Dallas meeting. ACCE’s goals, structure, and funding mirror those of its parent organization. According to The Guardian, the agenda for ACCE’s initial meeting focused on privatization and fighting public sector unions. Or, translated into ACCE doublespeak, “Effective Tools for Promoting Limited Government” and “Releasing Local Governments from the Grip of Collective Bargaining.”

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More here on workers fighting back. against low wages. And here on sick days.

 

 

ALEC and Fossil Fuels

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PRWatch has this up on ALEC continuing its dirty campaigns against everything that is logical.

From the piece:

ALEC is even going after people who want to generate solar power for their homes. The boom in home solar energy generation—there has been a 60 percent increase in domestic solar installations in the past year—is a threat to ALEC’s dirty energy producing members, so they have a bill to amend so-called net metering laws that allow homeowners to sell excess electricity back to the grid. It is the ability to do this that makes solar an increasingly affordable possibility for homeowners. ALEC’s bill would charge homeowners additional fees, with ALEC environment task force director John Eick telling The Guardian that these users are “free riders on the system.”

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You know, it’s one thing to try to promote your heavy-metal containing pollution, but it’s a whole ‘nother thing to try to prevent people from taking a proactive stance against your dirty fuel.  Unreal.

Solar energy has sooo many benefits–one of which is independence from the greedy energy producers whom have stripped our lands of trees, poisoned our water and soil, and then not paid for the land use nor taxes on top of that.

Sixty percent increase in solar energy use…just in the last year…this is a *huge* threat to them.

Mike Pence, doing ALEC’s bidding, along with the coal industry.

Not long ago, Indiana ranked in the top five for low cost of electricity. Now, thanks to an onslaught of regulations from Washington, Indiana ranks somewhere firmly in the middle of the pack.

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Reading between the lines, this is as much an admission of guilt for polluting our air, water, and soil with heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic) from coal. They were getting away with it until regulations prevented the free-for-all.

I keep thinking about that 17 million pounds of toxins put into our waterways every single year…and BP dumping mercury into Lake Michigan every single year, courtesy of Indiana Dept. of Environmental Mis-Management….and the lack of action when the toxic spill floated down the Ohio…

 

 

 

Scenes of Summer…

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…another gorgeous weekend here.  (But I have to say that this summer has been dry.  Not on the scale of the drought a few years ago, but very dry.  As much as I love the gorgeous weather, we need the rain.)

I rode my bike this past week, to one of my favorite places around here…the bridge over the river.  More dead trees have fallen into it, and as I passed over it (a day earlier in the car), a crane was perched on them.  It flew off just as I stopped.

I saw the bright yellow birds again…I’m pretty sure they are finches.  There was one outside our door perched on a sunflower, singing its song.  Gorgeous.

Along the road, someone is building what looks like a huge barn.  I’m hoping it is not a commercial venture, but perhaps a boarding place for horses.  Time will tell.

As I was leaving home, the black and white dog that bit our dog comes running at me, barking.  I yell at him, and he stops…for now.  A couple of weeks ago, he and the boxer bit another dog.  These young girls were walking their dog past the house, and The Dogs came up and bit their dog, too.  My BIL saw it, and told the girls to go home and tell their Mom what happened and to call the animal control officer because they had bit our dog, too.

The animal control officer came out, and was talking to the owners of The Dogs.  Incredibly, the woman stated that those girls should not have been walking their dog past the house.  Seriously.  She actually said that these two little girls should not have been walking their dog on a leash on a public road….so she could let her dogs run all over the place, intimidating and biting other people/dogs.

And the incredible thing is that these people know they can get away with it because nobody will do anything…until a human being is bit.  The animal control officer told us that if we get bit, we need to take a picture of it.  Seriously.  He is going to wait until these dogs bite a human because biting two other dogs is apparently not enough evidence of their aggression.  And nothing is happening to the owners, either.   They couldn’t care less.  The black and white dog was out running around the next day.

And the cherry on top is that there is another dog owner just like them…and we’re in-between the two houses…so they let their dogs roam in-between houses at will, making us right in the center of it.

I really feel bad for the dogs, because they will probably end up going to the pound because of their idiot owners.  I just don’t understand why these people just don’t put up a fence.  They have plenty of yard to put a fence up so the dogs can run around to their hearts’ content and not bother anybody.  Nor will they get off their arses and take the dogs out on a leash so they can get some exercise….

Frustrating.

Anyway, back to the nice day….

I was admiring the scenic river, but it was time to go, and I hopped back on the bike to peddle home.

I no sooner did that, when I heard…the sound of the plane….

That plane.

That yellow plane that has been spraying chemicals in the air over the corn fields….

I have been buying my eggs from a farmer that believes in free range (not cage-free folks, which isn’t the same thing)…and we just happened on the topic of spraying the fields.  She’s young, and I told her that it had been outlawed in the 70s…so I don’t understand how the ban got lifted and now we have this idiot spraying chemicals (she said it was fungicides) which goes all over the place.

Just as I was leaving her place, I’m zipping down the country road, and just as I approach a corn field, the yellow plane sprays the chemicals clear up to the road….which I pass under just as he sprays. Sh*t.

I got my migraine the next day.

On the day that I was riding my bike, and again was near the stupid plane,  I peddled as fast as my tired legs could take me (not very fast), and tried to get inside.  I could hear the plane make several passes (it’s fairly loud).

All that day and the next, I was tired, achy, nauseated with a headache.  Yep.

But hey, it’s okay, because the chemicals stay right where he sprays them.  /snark

I don’t know how this got started again.

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Today, I went for a nice walk at one of our great state parks.

You know, when I was in New Jersey, my son took me for a drive around Atlantic City.  We traveled through one of their parks, and I just have to say they ain’t got nothin’ on Indiana.  We have the most beautiful, stirring parks.

New Jersey trees were tall…but they were skinny things about ten inches in circumference.  Most of their trees were like that.

Our trees, however, are big and thick…old growth trees with character.  They bend gracefully over the road, giving us a leafy canopy.  The forests here look like forests…not telephone poles with leaves.  (Sorry, New Jersey, not trying to pick on you…but you know….)

I had taken my kids to this park when they were still at home, and I knew that I had taken them to an area with a large pond.  My son and I had been there a couple of times, recently, but I could not find the area I had taken them to previously.

To my delight, I found it today.  Looks a lot different than it did twenty years ago.  The dry summer is showing…pond was nearly dried up.  And there is much, much more growth of bushes than before.

It was mostly water with lilypads on it before, so I was surprised at the growth of the rooted bushes.

The walkway was looking its age, too.  It is leaning a bit and looks like it needs shoring up or replaced.

As I walked along a grass path, toads were leaping in front of me.  Heh.

(It’s getting to be quite a habit now–as I play “frogger” at night when I’m coming home from work–I accidentally hit one the other night, but most nights I can see them in time to avoid them in the roadway.  I also saw a baby deer next to the road–luckily, he/she was good and stayed put, looking at the car, while flipping its tail back and forth.  )

A curious thing at another area of the park–they put up an information sign telling folks that the river had moved 50 feet in the last twenty years, so they were shoring up the bank and putting down landscape materials to keep the erosion down.  And I’m thinking….why don’t they let the river take its own course and work with it, instead of trying to thwart nature?

It was a wonderful summer day.  It even rained a bit–a soft rain–but I didn’t mind at all.  We need the rain…and I’m not going to melt.

And I couldn’t help but think of Climate Change and how all of the beauty and beneficial aspects of nature could be gone in coming years…perhaps even in my lifetime.  Gave me chills….

Hope you all were able to enjoy some beauty somewhere today.

 

 

Changes….

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…I know that nothing stays the same, and yet…

I went to Fort Wayne Sunday.  I had the thought of giving some food to the food pantry that our building had.  It was there to help with the gaps between what the gov’t thinks people need in order to eat and what they actually had at the end of the month.

So…I bought about $80 worth of food and called the manager to see if she was available to get in the building and chat awhile.  She didn’t pick up her cell, and I found out why when I arrived at the building–

I had tried the disabled gal that used to run the food pantry.  She would have had the key to get in.  I couldn’t for the life of me remember her apartment number, so I guessed.   A man answered, so yeah, no luck.  He didn’t even know the name so either he was new, or the gal has moved to another place.  She had been there quite a few years, so I was surprised that she wasn’t there.

I tried a few more apartments, but no one was home.  On a final try, I got one of the residents.  Ironically, he was the same one that gave me such grief over there by setting off the fire alarms all the time.  Heh.

He let me in and then said they didn’t have the food pantry anymore.  I was shocked.

He said that everything had changed and that the manager was no longer there.  There had been a big shake up, I guess.  No wonder she didn’t reply to my call.

So…I ended up just putting the food on a table in the main lobby for people to pick up.

It was just surreal.  There used to be folks outside chatting on the benches. No one.  No one inside where a couch and tables are located.

It just felt like the world got a little colder.  Makes me sad.  Really sad leaving the building. What once was a small community, where we looked out for one another, has become a place to exist.

Once our former manager left, it just seemed to take the warmth and light out of the place.  The new maintenance guy did not like the “free” table we had in our rec room…he was somewhat anal and didn’t like the clutter of it…but that table was a life saver for us with little money to buy things.  If someone didn’t want something, but another resident could use it, that just saved it from ending up in the landfill, didn’t it?  But the maintenance guy insisted there were fights over the stuff…and I can say that I never witnessed it nor heard about any such fights.  He just didn’t like it, is my guess….and if there were any fights, he probably blew them out of proportion.

Anyway, what should have been a happy day of giving back was one of sadness.

Why Hamas is launching the rockets…

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DN! has a good report up this morning on *why* Hamas is not backing down.  Palestinians don’t necessarily support Hamas, but they are left without any other means to break the blockade of Israel the bully.  It impacts their ability to get supplies, water, wages, etc.  It affects every single thing in their lives.

As President Kennedy said–when you make peaceful protest impossible, then violent protest is inevitable….