I'm All Over The Map

Since we moved into our home, we’ve enjoyed the shade and wildlife habitat provided by a lovely, large, silver maple in our front yard.  But in the last two years we’d noticed that the “knotty” midsection of the tree was getting more pronounced and the tree seemed have become a sanctuary for pestilential ants.

With the drought that ensnared Texas for most of the summer, it became obvious that our favorite tree was  stressed, but we had every confidence that it would make it through the heat and continue to grace us with its presence for years to come.

Alas, that was not to be.  Despite $200+ water bills,

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Last Man Standing?

In a stunning outbreak of common sense, an editorial in Student BMJ has experts warning that overuse of antibiotics in livestock poses definite risks to both humans and other animals.

For over 50 years farmers have been feeding antibiotics to their herds after scientists discovered the drugs improved the animals’ growth.  As time wore on however, it became apparent that the practice was giving rise to resistant strains of bacteria that could prove hazardous to the public.

In 1977 Congress proposed banning the practice, but the measure was shelved “pending additional study” (or more properly, after being lobbied out of existence).

In the interim we have seen the emergence of deadly strains of e coli, as well as

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Your Lightbulb & WiFi, What Could Go Wrong?

NXP, a publicly traded semi-conductor company, and Green Wave Reality, an energy management and automation company, have partnered and announced their intention that every light bulb should have an IPv6 internet address.

That’s right, your light bulb will be able to talk over your WiFi in the not too distant future, and the companies involved are ecstatically proclaiming “The possibilities are endless: You could monitor, manage and control every light bulb from any Internet-enabled device – turning lights on and off individually, dimming or creating scenes from your smartphone, tablet, PC or TV – to save energy as well as electricity costs.”

Green Reality has been instrumental in bringing Smart Meters (new, digital electric meters) to households nationwide, with less than universal appreciation.

While there may be legitimate consumer benefits, there are several issues to consider.  Such as, from

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Car or Teachers? Which Is Worth More?

If you are a resident of Fort Worth, remember to vote on Saturday, May 14th.

I know it’s “only” the mayoral and city council elections, but these positions are often stepping stones to higher office, and not voting can allow people who make … questionable … decisions to ascend to positions where there are real consequences.

Take our State Legislature for example.

There’s an article over at Bloomberg online that mentions how “Texas, which may balance its budget by firing thousands of teachers, plans to commit $25 million in state funds to Formula One auto racing each year for a decade” in the capitol city of Austin.

That’s right, Texas, who ranks in the bottom ten of all states and US territories for spending on education, proficiency of its students, and graduation rates, is going to fire more teachers and give money to race cars.  Not only that, but taxpayers will be subsidizing a segment of the racing community that’s proven itself to be a total loser over the last three decades in Long Beach, California, as well as Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix and, most recently, Indianapolis.

I can’t help but think that if we’d culled the candidate pool at the local level back in the 1970s and 80s, we might not be seeing travesties such as this play out in our fair state.

But then again, politicians do like a populace that doesn’t think too deeply.  They tend to stay in office longer.

Product vs. People?

A few years back the local warehouse store had a great price on a combination rainfall shower head / handle sprayer combination.  Lifetime warranty too.  So I bought it.

Fast forward to today and the spray handle has lost its rubber anti-scratch bumper, the head itself is loose, expanded from the seam, and leaking water.  OK.  Call the warehouse store.

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This looks positively sick; and considering how totally over Azeroth I’ve gotten…  : )
 

Go to http://probablyinteractive.com/url-hunter
Read the instructions on the page.
Look up at the address bar.
Using three keys, play.
Don’t tell.
: )

You're not chilly now, are you?

This months article from Low Tech Magazine would have come in handy about 90 to 120 days ago.

In it, the age old idea of controlling what we put on our scrawny frames, rather than manipulating our room environments, is thoroughly explored from a number of perspectives; not the least of which is how dressing appropriately can save you money in heating bills.

According to the author, there is a paucity of historical data on indoor room temperatures over the last century. From anecdotal sources it is thought that people may have kept their homes up to 17° cooler in the winter in the 1950s than we do today.

So how does that stack up from the standpoint of energy savings?

If lowering the thermostat 1° delivers a 9% to 10% energy savings, then our grandparents and parents were “greener” by at least 153% than we are today.

“But wait!” you say, “I live in a new, energy efficient home!”

Statistically, such homes deliver only

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Bill Young Productions main page for "concerts"

We’re coming up on the one year mark for the Deepwater Horizon disaster and what do you suppose I saw on CBS the other morning?  Yep, another BP Look-What-We’ve-Done-For-You-It’s-Almost-Shiny-As-New commercial.  My blood pressure elevated by six points.

So I went searching for an online version of it to share with you, as I ripped it to shreds, and guess what?

You won’t find it.

In fact you won’t find a single, solitary, one, of BPs PR obfuscations online.  Sure you can go to BPs website and snooze through over an hours worth of 4 to 5 minute puff pieces, all of which are handled by Bill Young Productions, none of which can be easily shared.

Try I as I may I could not find the commercials that are aired on mainstream TV, touting the great job they’re doing and the amazing resilience of the Gulf and its citizens.

Maybe because they’re afraid (justifiably in my opinion) that people of a skeptical/critical mindset might compare this:
BP press conference of November 2010
to this:
Scientist finds Gulf bottom still oily, dead

I think this quote sums the situation up succinctly:

“The control of information is something the elite always does, particularly in a despotic form of government. Information, knowledge, is power. If you can control information, you can control people.” ~ Tom Clancy

Fear This Email

MEDICAL ALERT!
The FDA web site is at the bottom of the page for verification…
<snip [to spare you the sad, sad story and FEAR about phenylpropanolamine]>
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/InformationbyDrugClass/ucm150767.htm

What it should have said was:

DUSTYPALEOLITHICDEADNEWS ALERT!!

Because someone was behind the times by ABOUT A DECADE.

Phenylpropanolamine, or PPA, was ordered off the market in 2001, Japan followed suit in 2003.

It was totally banned in the US in 2005.

“In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a public health advisory[9] against the use of the drug in November 2000. In this advisory,

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