soapbox

. . . . . . . .ITS A SURPRISE TO ME THAT THIS KIND OF EPIDEMIC DIDN'T HAPPEN SOONER...WHEN YOU CONSIDER ALL THE INGREDIENTS THAT COME TOGETHER TO CREATE THIS ILLNESS .....INGREDIENTS LIKE AIR TRAVEL,HIGH TEMPERATURES(CLIMATE CHANGE ?),POPULATION, . . . . FACTORY FARMING OF . . .CATTLE, . . . . .SWINE . . . . .AND . . . .CHICKENS. . . . . IN THE CASE OF MEXICO THE DROUGHT AND WATER SHORTAGES ALSO MUST BE CONSIDERED.TO SHOW THE DIMENSIONS OF SCALE OF FACTORY FARMING LOOK AT THE ABOVE PHOTO OF A EGG WAREHOUSE IN CHINA...SOLUTION ? DON'T KNOW . . . . BUT SOME PEOPLE SUGGEST A CHANGE IN LIFESTYLE TO INCORPORATE VEGAN,VEGETARIANISM AND . . . . .LESS AIR TRAVEL.

. . . . .REMINDER: MONTHLY EARTH HOUR IS ON THE 28TH DAY OF EACH MONTH......FROM 8 PM TO 9 PM (TOMORROW APRIL 28TH).....PLEASE DO YOUR PART TO . . . . . .PREVENT CLIMATE CHANGE BY TURNING OFF . . . . . .ALL UNECESSARY LIGHTS AND/OR POWER DURING THAT TIME....FOR THOSE KEEPING SCORE ON . . . . . . THE ACCUMULATION OF GREENHOUSE GASES ON PLANET EARTH . .. . . . . CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES . .http://co2now.org AND ALSO www.sciencedaily.com (april 26,2009). . . . . THESE ARE NEW, UPDATED AND ILLUSTRATIVE WEBSITES.

. . . . .EARTH DAY IS WEDNESDAY APRIL 22 . . . .I THINK IT SHOULD BE AN OFFICIAL HOLIDAY . . .CELEBRATE THE WONDERS OF PLANET EARTH ...BUT ALSO PROTECT IT.

. . . . ONE OF THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE CAN DO TO REDUCE POLLUTION IS TO DRY THEIR LAUNDRY(WHENEVER POSSIBLE) OUTDOORS (WEATHER PERMITTING) OR EVEN INDOORS BY SECURING ROPES OR TWINE NEAR THE CEILING.HANGING THE CLOTHES ON THESE LINES FOR A SHORT TIME WILL USUALLY DRY THEM OUT. . . . .THE ELECTRIC CLOTHES DRYER IS AN ENERGY HOG AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED SINCE THE POWER FOR THE DRYER LIKELY COMES FROM DIRTY COAL OR DIRTY NUCLEAR REACTORS . .FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ENERGY HOGS THAT MAY BE LURKING IN YOUR HOUSE SEE THE MARCH ISSUE OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE . . . .IT TELLS YOU THE POWER CONSUMPTION OF SOME OF THE COMMON APPLIANCES.

. . . .Last year Nova Scotia commissioned David Wheeler, dean of Dalhousie University’s faculty of management, to determine the most appropriate way to promote and implement energy efficiency measures in the province. Mainly, Wheeler focused on “demand side management,” which involves helping customers use less electricity. Wheeler consulted with some 40-odd stakeholders — consumers, government, and industry representatives — and concluded the best approach would be to create an independent agency at arm’s length from the government, as opposed to having an entirely government- or utility-led initiative, as is typically done in the rest of Canada and the U.S. The provincial government announced this month it would move ahead with Wheeler’s recommendation and set up the agency by the end of next year. The proposed model in Nova Scotia carries a number of advantages, such as increased flexibility and accountability. The agency will have performance standards, and the administrators can b

. . . . . .IS A GOOD IDEA TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE. . . .LETS DISCUSS IT MORE.

. . . . . Areva, France's nationally-owned corporate atomic façade, has plunged into a deep financial crisis led by a devastating shortage of cash. Electricite de France, the French national utility, has been raided by European Union officials charging that its price-fixing may be undermining competition throughout the continent. Delays and cost overruns continue to escalate at Areva's catastrophic Olkiluoto reactor construction project in Finland. Areva has admitted to a $2.2 billion, or 55%, cost increase in the Finnish building site after three and a half years. The Flamanville project---the only one now being built in France---is already over $1 billion more expensive than projected after a single year under construction. . . . . .ON TOP OF ALL THIS NEWS THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO,CANADA,STILL PLANS ON CONSTRUCTING 2 ADDITIONAL NUCLEAR REACTORS AT DARLINGTON,A TOWN EAST OF TORONTO.IN SPITE OF THE HUGE GROWING PROTESTS THAT ARE CONTINUALLY GOING ON IN THE PROVINCE. . . .(note:

. . . .CRIMINALS IN OUR MIDST . . .THE AVERAGE SIZED CAR . . . . .EMITS 12,000 LBS. OF GREENHOUSE GAS (CO2) . . . . . . . PER YEAR OR 19 LBS.(CO2) PER GALLON AFTER COMBUSTION. . . .IN A WORLD APPROACHING THE PERILS OF . . . . . . GLOBAL WARMING THIS CONSTITUTES A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY . . . YET THEY CONTINUE TO BE BAILED OUT BY ILL-INFORMED GOVERNMENTS . . . . . . .AROUND THE WORLD AND THE SELLING OF CARS CONTINUES UNABATED . . . .SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE CRIMINALS . . .WHY . .??...BECAUSE THEY DRIVE CARS.

. . . . . . . . .AT THE MOMENT OF LAUNCH AS CAPTURED BY A USA COMMERCIAL SATTELITE.THIS WAS THE LONG RANGE 3 STAGE ROCKET THAT CRASHED INTO THE OCEAN . . .UNABLE TO CONFIRM WHETHER ITS PAYLOAD REACHED ORBIT OR NOT. . .CONFLICTING REPORTS SO FAR.

. . . . What about Canada? Does Stephen Harper's team grasp the security consequences of warming temperatures, rising sea levels, extreme weather events and precipitation changes? Do they realize that climate change may represent a more complex and serious threat than terrorism and crime, their current security preoccupations? Sadly for Canada, NO. . . .IN TODAY'S TORONTO STAR NEWSPAPER IS AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CANADA AND THE USA ON CLIMATE CHANGE . . .UNFORTUNATELY CANADA IS ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL.

. . . . . .On the third leg of his transatlantic tour, Mr Obama warned that the dangers of proliferation and of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists was "the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War," which came to a close in part thanks to the Velvet Revolution in this city two decades ago. "I am not naive. This goal will not be reached quickly, perhaps not in my lifetime," the 47-year-old leader said. But he used his address in Prague to lay out several steps meant to demonstrate his earnestness, including calling a world summit on nuclear security in the next 12 months, urging the US Senate to immediately ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and tightening the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. "Some argue that the spread of these weapons cannot be checked, that we are destined to live in a world where more nations and more people possess the ultimate tools of destruction," Mr Obama told his audience. "Thi