ShowMeBlog

Earth Day - April 22, 2012

“From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Earth Day is a day early each year on which events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day. Earth Day is planned for April 22 in all years at least through 2015.

The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. Earth Day was first observed on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature's equipoise was later sanctioned in a Proclamation signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations where it is observed each year. About the same time a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this April 22 Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations. Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues…”

 

Earth Day Dallas and the Conservative Case for Conservation

Radioactive waste may soon travel on DFW highways

“BY ANNA M. TINSLEY

[email protected]

Huge numbers of trucks carrying low-level radioactive waste from dozens of states will soon travel highways nationwide -- including those in the Metroplex -- on their way to a remote disposal site in West Texas.

Shipments from up to 36 states will head to a dump in Andrews County near the New Mexico border, owned by Dallas billionaire and generous Republican political donor Harold Simmons, despite concerns from environmentalists and others worried about potential accidents or contamination once the loads are left at the Waste Control Specialists facility.

"Texas is going to become a nuclear waste dump if everything happens under their plans," said state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, an opponent of the facility. "We will be the major route for nuclear waste…”

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/15/3884220/radioactive-waste-may-soon-travel.html#storylink=cpy

 

  You got to come and visit Texas.  If the heat does not kill you or the gas or water from fracking then the radioactive waste will get you. 

 

“…In the past eight years, 72 incidents nationwide involving trucks carrying radioactive material on highways have caused $2.4 million in damage and one death, the Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration says…”

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/15/3884220/radioactive-waste-may-soon-travel.html#storylink=cpy

 

  Thank you Harold Simmons for making donations to Gov. Rick Perry (R) and thank you Rick Perry for approving of the medical waste and radioactive contamination waste so that we can bury it in the red clay of Texas.
  Rick Parry and the Republicans are so right.  We do not need an EPA or any other federal agencies.

FrackNation vs GasLand

  Fracking is big in Texas.  I saw the documentary GasLand and that is about the first time that I learned about fracking.  I had seen some stories about problems here in Texas with fracking and with the corporations refusing to tell about the stuff they were pumping into the ground.  There was also reports of it being done next to schools and parks.  So little pipes were sticking up from the ground and no one knew there were even there.
  But I learned a lot from the GasLand documentary.  Now I am not a Republican so I don’t take anything I see as fact until I hear other points of view and do some research on my own.

  I guess the right and the fracking people are going to put out their own documentary called FrackNation soon.

TXU Energy

  I am in Fort Worth (Texas) and I use TXU Energy for electricity.  I have been very happy with their service.  My bill for last month was $44.11 now of course it is about three times that during the summer here because of the AC.

  I like that I can go online and see my daily, weekly, monthly use and know what my bill is going to be.  I am sure lots of companies do that now. 
  I use all compact fluorescent bulbs here. 
 

  I had a CFB go bad and I need to find out how to dispose of it now. 
Mother Nature Network has an aricle “5 Ways to Dispose of old CFLs.”

  I used the Earth911 link and it looks like Home Depot is the place I can take it. Home Depot takes compact fluorescent light bulbs.  They accept only unbroken CFL bulbs, no fluorescent tubes.  I have a doctor’s appointment on the 31st and there is a Home Depot across the street. 

  I guess when the price of LED bulbs come down we will all be using LED bulbs and it will be the end of CFL light bulbs. 
  I been using CFBs since they came out and they were high cost then.  I would buy one bulb each payday until I had everything replaced.  I think this time I will just wait for the price to come down on LED bulbs.  Well I will be 71 in March and I might not be around long enough to see the price drop this time. 

  I went to EarthTech Products and it looks like LED light bulbs cost about $40.00 for a 9 watt bulb and that puts out as much light as a 60 watt bulb.  I will wait for the prices to come down.

Are schools making kids sick?

  CNN has a story “Are schools making kids sick?”  Because of the Republicans schools are cutting staff.  The Democrats and the left is worrying about the lost of teachers jobs.  Many are worried about less school security.  But I do not hear much about the lost of jobs of the people that keep the schools clean and take care of maintenance.
  Hell, you got the Republicans calling for getting rid of the janitors and hire the kids to clean schools!

  It is crazy.  Schools need to teach but they need to be safe and healthy.  They should not make kids sick.
 

  The government, YES the government, needs to be spending money to make schools safe and healthy and places to learn.

  Plus cleaning up schools and building new ones will create jobs.

  The right wing Republicans are pushing us in the wrong direction.

  If we need to increase taxes to keep kids safe and healthy then we need to increase taxes.

   If you been reading my blogs over the years you know I love to go to a casino a gamble.  I buy a lottery ticket from time to time.
   When the issue of casinos and the lottery first came up in Missouri I said “no” to the idea UNLESS the profit could be used for schools.  Well the people that wanted the lottery said that there would be so much money coming in that schools would be made out of gold.   There would be tons and tons of money for schools.  So much money that the schools would not know what to do with the money.
   What happened to all that money?   Just from the lottery money it would seem like it would be easy to pay for everything.

SodaStream

  It looks like I will have my SodaStream Jet Starter Kit about Monday.  I will have the ability to make water/seltzer.  I will be carbonating water. 
  So I will have everything I need to turn tap water into “sparkling” water. 

 

“…In addition to making fizzy water, SodaStream also offers more than 25 regular, diet, energy and caffeine-free flavors of syrup (sold separately). Each 500ml soda mix bottle makes the equivalent of 12 liters of soda (about 33 cans). And with over 25 flavors, the possibilities for creative beverages are limited only by your imagination. How about a Creamsicle (Orange and Cream Soda), or a Japanese Beetle (Ginger Ale and Lemon-Lime)? The regular soda mixes contain no high fructose corn syrup, while the diet soda mixes contain no aspartame.

The benefits of the SodaStream drinks maker, compared to ready made bottled drinks:

• Provides an endless supply of sparkling water, freshly made from tap water in just a few seconds.
• No more need to buy, carry or store large quantities of heavy and bulky bottles.
• A wide variety of flavors are produced by SodaStream.
• The ability to make sparkling water as strong or as weak as one likes, makes the machine an ideal solution for the family's entire sparkling beverage needs…”

  I do not drink water.  I know I need to drink water and it is a wonder I am alive.  I plan to start making my own drinks.  I hope I can stop buying bottles and cans of Coke. 
  I am 70 years old and I have never drank seltzer.  I have no idea what seltzer alone even taste like.

 

  I will let you know how this works out for me.  I am not sure it is going to be cheaper.  I will find out.  I do think it will give me some control and that it might be more healthy for me. 

I may become a member of the evil empire one day

 

  The Republican Party is the evil empire.  They worship the dollar.  They do not care for people but only care for corporations and the 1% of the people that are rich.
 
  I own about $300.00 worth of Mawson Resouces stock!  I may one day be rich.  If I become rich I will, of course, turn my back on the 99% and I will become part of the evil empire.
  I would, of course, want to do away with child labor laws, do away with unions, do away with Medicare, do away with Social Security and everything else that is good for the middle class and the poor.
  I am just warning you all…  If I become rich off this stock I will sell my soul to the evil empire. 

Water water everywhere

  I just ordered a Pur 18 Cub Dispenser with one Pitcher Filter.

  If you been reading ShowMeBlog and Howard’s Notebook you will know that I drink just about zero water.  I get all my water from Coke.  Russell drinks a lot of water.
  My hope is that I can get Russ to use the water dispenser with filter and we will not have to haul in bottled water.  I also am telling myself that I will start drinking some water.  We will see about that.

  I also ordered a Sodastream Jet Starter Kit. 

 

  The goal is not so much reduce the cost of the drinks we get as it is to cut out the need to haul all the bottles and cans home.  If the cost is less that will be great.
  I am not sure if I will like the taste of the “sodamix” or not.  We will see what happens.  I will let you know how it works out for me.

Earth–Time Lapse View from Space

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

 

  I keep having people send me the link to this video so I am just going to post the view here.

 

Time lapse sequences of photographs taken by Ron Garan, Satoshi Furukawa
and the crew of expedition 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from
August to October, 2011, who to my knowledge shot these pictures at an altitude
of around 350 km. All credit goes to them.

 

Music: Jan Jelinek | Do Dekor, faitiche back2001
w+p by Jan Jelinek, published by Betke Edition
janjelinek.com | faitiche.de
Image Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory,
NASA Johnson Space Center, The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth
eol.jsc.nasa.gov
Editing: Michael König | koenigm.com
Shooting locations in order of appearance:
1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night
2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night
3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia
4. Aurora Australis south of Australia
5. Northwest coast of United States to Central South America at Night
6. Aurora Australis from the Southern to the Northern Pacific Ocean
7. Halfway around the World
8. Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East
9. Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East
10. Pass over Canada and Central United States at Night
11. Pass over Southern California to Hudson Bay
12. Islands in the Philippine Sea at Night
13. Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam
14. Views of the Mideast at Night
15. Night Pass over Mediterranean Sea
16. Aurora Borealis and the United States at Night
17. Aurora Australis over Indian Ocean
18. Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia at Night

Let us put an end to Daylight Saving Time

Quick vote

Do we still need Daylight Saving Time?

Read Related Articles

No 63%

3640

Yes 37%

2141

Total votes: 5781

This is not a scientific poll

 

  I am 70 years old and I say let us put an end to Daylight Saving Time.  It looks like a lot of people agree with me.
  I had to deal with it more than many people over the years.  I worked weekends most of the time.  DST is set to change in the early AM hours of Sunday.  I was always working. 
  I ended up losing one hour of work or working an extra hour.  When I was working a 12 hour shift that extra 13th hour was a bitch.
  Plus many years I had to change the time clock and some other important clocks. 
Then sometimes doing my daily activity sheet or writing a report was a bitch because of the time change.
  Then you also have to deal with other people that do not know that the time has changed.  At one hospital I had to unlock the doors of the hospital at 0500 hours but the time changed that Sunday and it was only 0400 hours.  A female employee tried to get into the front door at 0400.  She came around to the ER door and rang the bell and I went and let her in and she started cussing me and calling me every name under the sun and I just walked down the hall with her and did not say anything.  I had to unlock the business office for her.  When we got to the business office I just turned to her and said what “What time is it?”  She said 5AM.  I said “NO – Daylight Saving Time went into effect!”  I do not remember if she said she was sorry or not.  I do not think she did say she was sorry but that is the sort of stuff that happens.

  I hate the time change because you get used to the sun being up or down at a certain hour and all of a sudden it changes. 

  I do not see any changes taking place.  I am sure the Republicans would see it as some sort of Communist plot on the part of President Obama.  They would say he wanted it dark at a certain hour so that his black Communist brothers could attack under cover of darkness or something.
  I have not faith that our government can do anything.