Category: Environment

An Interesting Senator in the U.S.

During a heated discussion at work between two people arguing about whether or not global warming is a hoax, a Senator’s blog was cited as a resource.  Curious, I hit up Wikipedia and found a page on Senator Jim Inhofe.

Quite an interesting fellow really.  Here are some choice quotes from the wikipedia article (take them for what they’re worth).

“It kind of reminds… I could use the Third Reich, the Big Lie… You say something over and over and over and over again, and people will believe it, and that’s their [the environmentalists’] strategy”

He also stated that Global Warming is

” … the second-largest hoax ever played on the American people, after the separation of church and state.”

Yes, that whole separation thing was a massive … uh .. hoax?

He’s even pinned down who’s behind this environmental hoax: The Weather Channel.  They need to keep up their ratings after all.

Now, if this was a joe-shmoe on the street I wouldn’t have noted it, but this is a Senator.  The very same Senator that was chair of the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

And his ideas on other issues really don’t resonate with me at all.  For example he’s trying to amend the constitution to make same sex marriage illegal.  His presentation on the Senate floor included this little gem, while pointing to a poster-sized picture of his family.

…As you see here, and I think this is maybe the most important prop we’ll have during the entire debate, my wife and I have been married 47 years. We have 20 kids and grandkids. I’m really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we’ve never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship.

Yup, no homosexuals in his family.  None at all … hey .. don’t look in that closet!  What worked for him must therefore be struck into law and work for everyone.

To top it all off, he seems to be representing the people, as his record shows landslide wins for decades now.  Either that or people are simply voting along party lines.

Really?  How does this make any sense at all?

Wisdom Comes With Age, They Say

Back in the 90s I listened to a band called Pure, and in my recent attempts to digitize my collection (I’m at the S’s now, hang in there contest entrants!) I have revisited their album entitled Generation 6 Pack.

A witty enough title – I appreciate it more today than I did back then.

Therein lies a song called Denial, that, frankly, nailed a feeling back then.  A general growing mistrust of technology and popular culture (yes I know, a rare indie band theme).  Listening to it riding through Richmond’s Nature Park this morning caused me to pause: those boys had hit it on the head and, dammit, they were still right!

A decade later and could these words not be written today?

One day I went out walking
To find a butterfly
Screaming in an empty room
A man shot the sky
My heart beating faster
I think I’ll go read my book
The faster we go, the less we know
A book sure sounds good
Denial
Denial
Seems like the faster we go
The less we see
The less that we know
Denial
Passing by the drugstore
I see this girl inside
Flippin’ through a magazine
To see how she should be
I stare a little closer
No one seems to mind
That sad-happy look she’s giving up for a while
Denial
Denial
Seems like the faster we go
The less we see
The less that we know
Talk about denial
Seems like the bigger the lie
The more you try
And the less you ask why
Denial
Heading down the seawall
Going back to my home
I see a friend who’s always hurtin’
We talk for a while
Smiles are always nervous
Chances are that we’ll laugh
Spill our guts, hurry up
Time’s running fast
Denial

Now were they just precient, or has the world not really changed in a decade.  We only get 10 of these thing, max, and have we really used this one to its fullest potential?

Oh, one more thing.  This is Bike To Work Week in Vancouver.  if you’re local, consider trying it out.

One Hour Without Lights – I Feel Like I Cheated

That one hour without lights was a fairly poorly-timed hour, smack dab in the middle of a night where I needed to get some renovation stuff done. So a few things went through my head … I could kick back for an hour and relax, listening to music, or I could read a book by candelight … Oh! I could chop some wood and relax with Alisa in front of a fire! Or, I could fire up my 120 grit sander and ground off the surface of oil paint so I could apply a coat of primer ….

125 MegaWatts were saved though – so that’s not so shabby. Now if we did this on a regular basis instead of once a year …

1 Hour Of Less Light

An international effort to reduce electricity usage is happening in a few hours (my local time).  I suppose it is already underway for many people already!

A small, simple gesture – but with what results?  It’s like voting, no complaining about it if you can’t do small simple things like, well, turning your lights out for an hour tonight.  Have fun in the dark!  I know I will (sleep …. sleeeeepppppp …….)

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard

20 minutes.  That’s all I ask for.  A brief introduction, a story if you will, about the stuff we have in our lives.  Consumption is a national pastime in our culture and I believe we need to take responsiblity for that.  Oh, I also believe we need to change that.  Don’t run away, there’s cartoons!

I particularly like her Radio Shack analogy.  Yes, the radio costs me $4.99 – but was it really that cheap to make?  If it wasn’t that cheap, who actually paid the rest of the cost?

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard