Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Relentless Courage of Nature

Nature is relentless and unchangeable, and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons and actions are understandable to man or not. ~ Galileo

Galileo couldn't know what man had in store for nature.

Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.

~George Carlin

The crimes against nature being played out on the Gulf Coast leave me sad, disappointed and angry. Not only that it happened due to criminal negligence and greed but that the response to it is so slow and arrogant.

Because we don't think about future generations, they will never forget us.
~Henrik Tikkanen

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
~John Muir

I recently visited FORT HANCOCK and rather than take the tour of Officer's Row or visit the museum dedicated to battery guns I chose to walk around the abandoned section.

It was a warm windy day, the sun was shining but clouds kept passing over creating wonderful moments of silvery light and cooling the air.



I was immediately struck by how nature was reclaiming the ground that had once been cleared for buildings.

A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows.
~ Doug Larson



I almost passed by these flowers. They were leaning against a piece of old wood. Not a single flower anywhere else. Just these.

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
~Anais Nin



Residents of an old basement, peeking out at the light.





Yes, there really is a door in there.



The steps are good enough for the ivy and the grass.



The stone may crumble but it will fall onto the softness and forgiveness of nature.

You could cover the whole earth with asphalt, but sooner or later green grass would break through.
~Ilya Ehrenburg



Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.
~Hal Borland



I watched this tree for a bit. Appreciating how she bends away from the building and toward the sea and sun.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
~Albert Einstein

Logical thought told me that the wind was creating the sounds I heard as I wandered about. Yet the wind is part of nature and it made the trees rustle and the grass sway. It grabbed up seeds from one old plant and deposited them somewhere new.

I was quiet. I was calm. I was respectful.

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.
~Eleonora Duse

Monday, June 7, 2010

This Is Not The America We Advertise

My friend RAMBLING WOODS did a wonderful informative post about saving birds devastated by the oil disaster in the Gulf. She included many links to follow.

I’m going to link to the National Audubon Society – check out their AUDUBON ACTION CENTER

A former EPA administrator calls BP ‘Serial Environment Killers’. You can read about all their blunders and short cuts and outright illegal maneuvers HERE

There never seems to be consequences for the rich and greedy. Wall Street throws the economy into chaos, people lose jobs and homes and yet they collect bonuses and go on about their merry way.

Now we have BP CEO Tony Hayward.

I think this quote …

"We're sorry for the massive disruption it's caused to their lives," Hayward said."There's no one who wants this thing over more than I do, I'd like my life back”

… pretty much sums up the kind of man he is.

I wonder if that’s what he’s telling this worker. Hurry up, I have theater tickets waiting in London. Or perhaps he’s telling him he’s not really sick from the dispersants and the oil, just don’t eat the gumbo.



"I am sure they were genuinely ill, but whether it was anything to do with dispersants and oil, whether it was food poisoning or some other reason for them being ill, you know, there's a—food poisoning is surely a big issue when you've got a concentration of this number of people in temporary camps, temporary accommodations."

Christie Todd Whitman – the brilliant mind who brought us the declaration of safety at Ground Zero just days after the towers fell is once again sharing her wisdom as she trots around raising funds for more asshole Republicans.




You can read all about her wanting to do nothing, regulate nothing HERE

There are no consequences for the powerful and ignorant.

Thanks to Christie and this piece of crap …



... 7 of 10 First Responders at Ground Zero are sick. Many have died. The legal proceedings to develop real programs to help them go on and on – it’s been nearly 10 years.

10 years

In case you're not sure who the piece of crap I refer to is - it's the one pointing toward his political future, already planning how many times he can mention 9/11 during a speech - it's NYC's former king Rudy Guiliani. The sack of shit next to him, wearing a jacket from the Ahmadinejad bat shit crazy leader line, is none other than Prince Georgie.

How many years will the people and wildlife of the Gulf Coast suffer? After Katrina suicide rates in the region rose 30%. I saw an interview with the wife of a fisherman. He had finally finished the back breaking work it took to restore his business and now this. She says he walks around aimlessly, he doesn’t sleep, he has fits of anger and long bouts of silence.

They can’t pay their bills. They will lose what little they rebuilt. Their children are in college and she fears she won’t be able to continue their tuition payments.

Clearly there are consequences for them.

This is not the America we advertise.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Think Green Thursday: Who Will Inherit the Wind?


Yes I know it’s really Friday. I can’t live by your calendar!

My friend Pagan Sphinx has started a wonderful, relevant project called THINK GREEN THURSDAY.

Last week I posted a photo but this week I wanted to get a little deeper.

According to moveon.org …

By the end of the year, China will be the world's leading manufacturer of wind turbines.1 The U.S. government's investment in wind is tiny compared to China's, and that means American workers are missing out on millions of new jobs.

U.S. investment in wind power lags far behind, but when it comes to solar power, the story is even more infuriating: In the 1990s, the U.S. actually led the world in solar cell manufacturing. But in the Bush-Cheney years, China, Japan, and Europe all zoomed ahead of us in solar production.

Obama's plan would aggressively scale up American wind and solar production—creating millions of new jobs and tackling climate change in one fell swoop.

But the latest ads from dirty-energy companies are scaring away key Democrats in Congress.


I know there are those who roll their eyes at anything from moveon.org but facts are facts regardless of who presents them.

At THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS leading experts in the field summarized the issue.

Indeed, when it comes to preparing our country to compete in the new energy economy of the future and create millions of new jobs, we lag behind most of our competitors in the rest of the world in a four key ways.

 We have no national energy portfolio standard that encourages clean, renewable power and shifts away from dirty and dangerous energy.

 We have an outdated electrical grid unsuited for the task of carrying energy from regions rich in wind, solar, and geothermal potential to the people who need the energy.

 We don’t make dirty energy companies pay for the pollution they pump into the air; in fact, we give them billions every year in tax breaks.

 And we don’t invest enough in research, development, and deployment to inspire our entrepreneurs and leverage their discoveries by helping bring their bold new technologies to market.


The NY Times has THIS ARTICLE that talks about how some are trying to derail Obama’s innovative plan.

For a tour of how wind power works – check THIS out. From the Danish Wind Industry.

The photo above came from GREEN THINKERS.ORG. A wonderful site where smart, talented people offer solutions to help our planet. In this case the wind from passing traffic is being harnessed.

The President spent part of Earth Day HERE. A small but important step in creating green jobs.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Ruby Tuesday: Big Red Truck


My friend Mary/the Teach hosts Ruby Tuesday.

Go check out some cool shots of RED

It is 100 degrees here today! Do you have any idea what that much heat does to the air over a major metropolitan area!? It ain’t pretty.

Adding to the junk in the air are those idiots who have to drive big old trucks for no good reason.

May I present my favorite pick-up driving jerk – my son! And his big ole red truck.

To cool us all off a bit I chose a photo from the winter of 2004 – the year the truck was born, its first snow.

Stay Cool Kids!

Monday, January 7, 2008

Itty Bitty (old) Biddy, the Beast, and a Bunch of Buts

My sweet little Jetta is home from automotive ICU after being gone for over a month - apparently radiator clips are a rare and exotic commodity. Perhaps she just sat in the corner - a body shop wallflower given her age and puny stature.

The Beast (2007 Murano) is gone, back to the rental lot. My daughter-in-law returned her to a lot in Brooklyn so I can't really conveniently visit (steal) her. My very first blog entry was about how intimidating The Beast was to me, how I couldn't park her, couldn't reverse, lived in fear of mowing down tiny toddlers.

Oh what a difference a month makes!

And now I have a dilemma - that's duh-lem-her if you're from Bensonhurst.

Jetta is a sweet girl but she's a 95 - Beast was a 2007. Oh the newness!

BUT ...

Jetta costs $20 to fill up - Beast was a greedy $60 a tank

and I really like polar bears

Jetta is small and low - I could just slide into Beast's seat and recline like Queen for a Day

BUT...

Jetta is all paid for, insurance is practically nothing - I've been pricing Beasts just to torture myself

How many jobs can I work!?




Jetta needs some work done (don't we all!) - basically anything having to do with a wire is all mucked up; sunroof doesn't open, no dashboard lights, alarm groans when activated (is it even activated!?), back window is permanently closed, trunk release won't release, and on and on.




Beast just glowed! Was always happy to see me. Could hardly wait to roar into action - "Where we going today Mommy!"

BUT ... I really don't travel that far that often.

BUT... What came first? The not traveling or the "Hope I get to Brooklyn before she falls apart" or even better - "Please don't die in the Lincoln Tunnel, these are the first theater tickets I've had in a year"

Obviously I could just consider a newer version of Jetta - she could still be small and good on gas.

BUT ...

I have been seduced! I have SUV fever. I am ashamed.

I have gone from - anyone who owns a Beast - this includes my son, his wife, my brother, my nieces - should be flogged in public while writing a huge check to the NRDC to...

BUT it's so much safer, it's better for my back, I can see everyone who's about to cut me off!

Blah, blah, blah - blasphemy, bull - I hiss to myself - what a hypocrite!

BUT ... Oh My - Beast was comfy.

Jetta has only been back with me for a day so I'm assuming we will bond once more. I did have a guilt pang when I slammed her little door in disgust and left her there in the bank's parking lot - looking so sad between the Hummer and the Expedition. And she was so proudly displaying her "I brake for animals" plate. The Hummer was busily licking squirrel blood off it's tires and the Expedition mumbled something about "future generations? they're gonna want air to breathe? screw 'em - I'm comfortable and today is all that matters"


I think I just figured it out. BUT ...