March 4, 2020

Calling Us Out On Climate Change

Young people have become much more vocal about the issues they are worried about. And this is a good thing, after all they are the ones who will be picking up the pieces of a broken world long after many of “us” have kicked the bucket. Remember, it’s not those who created the problems who will have to deal with the consequences.

Many of our leaders are older, and most (if not all) of them seem to think that if they have enough money, they and their families will never have to be bothered with the consequences. Of course, this is not true, since Climate Change will be all encompassing, and no one will be immune. Rising temperatures, acidic and rising seawater will impact all environments. You see, as we’ve been told for decades by scientists, all Eco-systems on this earth are intertwined. There is no “stand-alone” part of the earth. Any impact on any habitat/environment, has an impact on all. Look at the Rain forests. They are the lungs of the earth, and they are being cut down and/or burned at an alarming rate. What impact does this have? It contributes to higher incidences of asthma and lung diseases; it increases the temperature of the earth. Do you know anyone with asthma? There is your effect right there.

Denying the science is a fool’s paradise. The only “scientists” who deny climate change are paid by the oil/gas/fracking industries. Yet, these are the ones our “leaders” want to listen to. Not the myriad number of scientific associations that do believe. https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/

Do your own research. There are any number of scientifically peer-reviewed studies and articles to read. Go to the IPCC website – I’ve left the link down below. There are approximately 200 species that go extinct every day. EVERY DAY! Read, do what you can do to change your own behavior so that you are shrinking your own climate footprint. Go plant-based, reuse, don’t consume more than is necessary, recycle. Be aware of your own actions. Demand green energy. Vote like your life and your children’s lives depend on it – because they do.

https://www.ipcc.ch/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/un-environment-programme-_n_684562

January 15, 2020

Paying Attention to Your Energy Levels

It’s so easy to just assume that if you start off your day at a run, you’ll be able to keep that pace up throughout the entire day. Guess what? That never happens. As someone who has Fibromyalgia, I’ve learned that I need to pay attention to how I feel and how much energy I’ve got.

For the past four weeks I’ve been fighting a sinus issue, it’s not an infection, just a consistently runny nose, cough and painful throat – coupled with the fact that I don’t really have much energy at all (I’m spending it all on blowing my nose and coughing), it hit me that I may have finally learned how to manage my energy levels. I’ve been washing the breakfast and lunch dishes together instead of immediately after each meal; the bathrooms don’t get cleaned every day, and guess what – they haven’t walked out of the house in a snit; the floors haven’t been vacuumed as much as they usually do, and I don’t think that anyone has noticed, besides, there is this little implement known as a dust mop. You can get the picture – I’m managing my energy levels, since I still have to walk the dog (a paid job), run errands, make dinner and haul wood.

But even when life is “normal” we need to pace ourselves. In a world that is overly full of “things to do” – really? Have you ever wondered how important most of what we do is? It can be hard to slow down and allow ourselves the time to re-fuel. Make sure that you’re not squandering your energy on things that essentially don’t matter. Take time to yourself. Drink a cup of tea, work on your priorities. Think about how much energy you want to give away. It’s an important thought, and just might change your life.

March 23, 2016

American Renewal Part 3b in Social Issues Series

This is a continuation of my post from last Wednesday regarding the list of American Renewal achievements from the RNC. Here is the list from the RNC regarding the American Renewal goals stated. In this post I’m writing about the last five achievements, since I wrote about the first six in my post from last Wednesday.

CONSTITUTION – Our Constitution should be preserved, valued and honored.

ECONOMY – We need to start growing America’s economy instead of Washington’s economy so that hard-working Americans see better wages and more opportunity.

BUDGET- we need to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, make government more efficient, and leave the next generation with opportunity, not debt.

HEALTHCARE – We need to start over with real healthcare reform that puts patients and their doctors in charge, not unelected bureaucrats in Washington.

VETERANS – Our veterans have earned our respect and gratitude, and no veteran should have to wait in line for months or years just to see a doctor.

SECURITY – Keeping America safe and strong requires a strong military, growing the economy, energy independence, and secure borders.

EDUCATION – Every child should have an equal opportunity to get a great education; no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing school.

POVERTY – The best anti-poverty program is a strong family and a good job, so our focus should be on getting people out of poverty by lifting up all people and helping them find work.

VALUES – Our country should value the traditions of family, life, religious liberty, and hard work.

ENERGY – We should make America energy independent by encouraging investment in domestic energy, lowering prices, and creating jobs at home.

IMMIGRATION – We need an immigration system that secures our borders, upholds the law, and boosts our economy. https://www.gop.com/principles-for-american-renewal

The next achievement is that of Education. The RNC claims that every child should have access to a “great” education. Except when they shouldn’t. The Republicans have voted to cut the budget for education at every turn. They also don’t believe that students should get loans for higher education. There is also the issue that “charter schools” are for profit; they educated far fewer students than public schools for more money, etc. Here is a link regarding these and more problems with charter schools. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/05/20/a-dozen-problems-with-charter-schools/ and http://democrats.budget.house.gov/fact-sheet/fact-sheet-republican-budget-cuts-education and http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/2015/06/25/why-the-gops-education-funding-bill-gets-an-f

As far as poverty is concerned, the RNC claims that their goal is to lift people up out of poverty and put them to work. Again, look at their record. How do people get lifted up out of poverty when their wages are at or below poverty levels? As I stated earlier, there is also the issue of the Republicans continuing the tax breaks on corporations that ship American jobs overseas. http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/republican-hypocrisy-on-the-minimum-wage/ and http://www.politicususa.com/2014/03/15/republicans-dream-nation-wage-slaves-obama-overtime-pay-rules.html

The next achievement that I’d like to look at is values, which the RNC has stated as “Our country should value the traditions of family, life, religious liberty, and hard work.” This definition is pretty vague, so I looked in other places for a more definite definitions of values. I found the following: “Our country should value family, life, and hard work. This is why we insist that public policy – from taxes to education, from health care to welfare – should be created to strengthen and support, not hurt, American families. Individuals and families should be able to maintain their independence from government, raise their children by their own values and build communities of self-reliant neighbors.” https://www.gop.com/issue/family-values/canonical/ Some of these same advocates for traditional family values also advocate: hate against certain groups, including but not limited to: LBGTQ+; persons of different ethnicity; persons of different religions; and persons of a different race. http://occupydemocrats.com/2016/02/18/southern-poverty-law-center-republican-party-is-now-a-hate-group-2/ Also, I would like to briefly bring up the point that in recent years the Republicans in Congress have been “caught” in affairs and scandals. http://reverbpress.com/politics/republican-family-values-politician-caught-in-sex-scandal-forced-rep-to-resign/ and then there is this http://occupydemocrats.com/2015/09/30/republican-anti-gay-family-values-hypocrite-caught-cheating-on-wife-in-sex-tape-scandal-steps-down/

That’s enough for the sex scandals. If we start to talk about other “values”, these would include: greater poverty (or below) wages; healthcare for all, including women’s health; good public education; clean air and water; shelter and food. These, again are values that the republicans have fought against. This article talks about these issues. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-slater/the-real-meaning-of-famil_b_50006.html

Now we come to the issue of Energy. The RNC says that it wants to help America become energy independent and keep jobs here at home. Again this sounds like a valid and good goal. What does it mean, though? So far, the Republican candidates for President have said that we should use all sources of energy whether or not they are polluting. They are there and we should use them. Some of them oppose tax credits for solar and wind while at the same time are planning to continue the tax credits for oil, gas and coal. http://www.lcv.org/assets/docs/presidential-candidates-on-renewable.pdf Not only that, but the Republicans have repeatedly voted against any form of clean energy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/11/17/amid-record-global-temperatures-congress-to-vote-to-stop-obamas-clean-power-plan/ As far as keeping jobs here at home, once again we have Republicans giving tax breaks to corporations who send jobs overseas. http://republicansexposed.org/republicans-support-tax-breaks-for-companies-sending-jobs-overseas/

Now, last but of course, not least, there is the goal of Immigration. This seems to be a hot-button issue in this election year. The stated position within the American Renewal document sounds fairly valid and sensible. “…an immigration system that secures our borders, upholds the law, and boosts our economy.” However when we take a closer look at the rhetoric coming from the Republicans we see a different side to the immigration issue. The Republican contenders for President have moved far to the right by vowing to deport millions of illegal immigrants, break-up families and deport children. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jan/18/donald-trump-pulls-republicans-further-right-on-im/?page=all Here you can read comprehensive statements by all the Presidential contenders regarding their stances on immigration. https://ballotpedia.org/2016_presidential_candidates_on_immigration While there has been a lot of verbiage regarding illegal immigration, at the same time there has been little in the way of policy on the subject. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-w-traphagan/the-gop-the-new-know-noth_b_9010454.html

So, American Renewal. What do you think? Where do you stand? While I personally feel that these are good goals, I don’t really feel that given the information that I’ve found from legitimate sources that the Republican Party has either delivered on them, or in most cases moved to achieve them. Let me know in the comments what your viewpoint is.

May 7, 2015

Coffee and Me

I’ve been having an odd kind of week. I decided quite awhile ago that I should really do something about my coffee habit. I have to say that I love coffee. The smell, the look of it when I’ve got just the right amount of Almond Milk mixed in and the first taste of it in the morning. Yes, it’s just an all around love fest with me and my coffee.

However, coffee really isn’t on my ethical list…reasoning you ask? Well, I will send you to just one article regarding the slave labor, environmental issues among others that make the partaking of coffee questionable. http://www.mintpressnews.com/untitled-document/26638/

So, there you go. And there I go. I knew about these issues, but I didn’t really do anything about them. I just continued to drink my wonderful coffee. But the facts sat there in the back of my mind bothering me. And then there was the issue of the headaches and grouchiness I so sweetly displayed when I hadn’t had my coffee yet. I didn’t like that. Then of course, coffee makes anxiety worse; that doesn’t help when you are already quite anxious and suffer from asthma as a result. While caffeine does have health benefits, I knew I had to stop. http://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-10-2013/coffee-for-health.1.html

Eventually the ethical issues were just too much. So, as I said, I’ve been having a really strange week. Usually I’m bouncing off the walls, full of energy in the morning (anyone say Jack Russell?). That’s when I try to get all my “stuff” done, since there is a definite slump once 1:30 pm rolls around. I learned a long time ago I can’t drink coffee after 10 am and sleep that night. See, it really affects me. So, I looked up the effects of caffeine withdrawal and a checked to see how addicted I actually was. http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-addiction-diagnosis

The good news? My two cups every morning put in the low addicted spot; however, I have been suffering some symptoms of withdrawal. I’ve had a headache pretty much ever since I decided to fore-go my coffee; I’ve been much less hyper (I don’t consider that a good thing, since I got so much done and now I don’t); and I’ve had to lay down during the afternoon almost every day this week. Insane, I know!

http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-addiction-diagnosis

Instead of coffee in the morning I’ve been having infused water. This is simply a mason jar of water that I’ve put some lemon and lime slices in. I’ve been heating it up and adding a tiny bit of Agave to it. That seems to help, but where oh where did my old hyper self go?? I miss her. She was so annoyingly fun! I hope that she reappears in the next few weeks as my withdrawal symptoms go away. I hope that my energizer bunny persona wasn’t completely powered by coffee.

April 24, 2015

Let’s Think About It – Fracking and You

Fracking is the process of breaking apart rock to access the natural gas and oil that is trapped within the rock. This process has led to many heated debates. I wanted to look at the issues this topic brings up and have a reasonable discussion regarding them.

The companies that produce this oil and gas are not required to publish exactly what chemicals they use to frack. Not only are they not required to disclose these chemical that they are pushing deep into the ground at a high pressure, but some of the chemicals that we have discovered they are using are known toxins. These include: benzene, toluene, xylene and ethyllbenzene. To begin with, benzene is linked to cancer and aplastic anaemia among other illnesses. http://www.who.int/ipcs/features/benzene.pdf
Toluene has been linked to problems with the brain (inability to think clearly); speech issues, and hearing loss among other illness. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=159&tid=29
Xylene has been linked to nervous system disorders. http://www.businessinsider.com/scary-chemicals-used-in-hydraulic-fracking-2012-3#btex-compounds-2
Ethylbenzene has been linked to developmental problems with infants both in utero and after birth and illnesses of the nervous system. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/substances/toxsubstance.asp?toxid=66
These are just a few of the chemicals that have contaminated the drinking water around fracking sites. There are other problems with fracking one of which is the release of methane. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/epa-moves-to-count-methane-emissions-from-fracking/
This is a serious issue, as it is one of the forces driving global warming.

Related to this issue, of course, are the people who can light their water from their drains on fire. There is a video of this imbedded here http://8020vision.com/2011/04/17/congress-releases-report-on-toxic-chemicals-used-in-fracking/
I suggest that you read the article and watch the video.

Another point that I would like to make is the amount of water that is used to frack. According to http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/05/fracking-water-america-drought-oil-gas 97 billion gallons of water have been used to frack all the wells in the U.S. Three-fourths of these wells have been drilled in areas of extreme drought. This article has wonderful charts and graphs and maps that you can look at, so I’m just going to tell you to look at the article for all the detailed information. This point is extremely important when you look at where the droughts are, and where fracking has been happening.

My final point is related to fracking and earthquakes. There is now scientific evidence that fracking is indeed causing earthquakes. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/induced/
Not only that, but there is fracking going on near the San Andreas Fault http://ecowatch.com/2013/08/13/fracking-californias-san-andreas-fault/
Now, I don’t live anywhere near California, however if I did I would be very concerned.

If you would like to read more about fracking and the affect that it has on people who live near the wells, this article would be helpful reading. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/14/fracking-hell-live-next-shale-gas-well-texas-us

I’m sure that I’ve missed some points, however all the information you might need should be included in the many references I’ve given. Let me know what you think about what I’ve written.

April 10, 2015

Let’s Think About It – Strip Mining, Coal and You

This is a companion piece to the review that I wrote on my book blog, Dewette Decimal Reads, reviewing Gray Mountain by John Grisham. I highly recommend reading this book, not only for the story, but also for the way in which Grisham presented the facts surrounding strip mining and the impact of it. Energy is an important topic, and one that we all need to think about. As our electricity use increases, we as a nation we need to really have an intelligent discussion about how we’re going to continue our life as we know it.

After reading this book, which of course brought up many questions and concerns, I decided to do a little research into the matter of strip mining. There are a lot of issues with our energy, but today I really want to focus on strip mining in particular, since I thought that this would be a good place to start. I intend to continue this as a series on this blog in the future since there are various issues that affect all of us, and we really do need to open a dialog regarding various problems in our society. I believe that the more information we can get, the better to deal with problems. According to http://www.plunderingappalachia.org more than 450 mountains in Appalachia have had their tops removed and the coal within these mountains has been mined. This has lead to environmental damage including: 2,000 streams and rivers have been polluted; wildlife habitat has been destroyed; the “waste” has been pushed into valleys adjacent to the mountains, interfering with water, rain and the use of these valleys to be lived in or used for other purposes. The left-over “slag” is a toxic mix that is allowed to be dumped into rivers and streams in the region resulting in the inability of these communities to drink or even use the water that previously had been clean. This in turn leads to the well-documented diseases of: various cancers, liver and kidney diseases, along with skin rashes. http://www.academia.edu/285527/The_Polluting_of_a_Nation_Surface_Coal_Mining_In_America

Along with the problems of “slag”, there are also the “slurry impoundments” that are made to hold the left-over toxic waste in large pools. These have been documented to have leaked into the ground-water, making this water unusable for, well, basically forever. There have been several incidents of these slurry ponds breaking through their barriers and flooding miles of land with the toxins. http://appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/community/ There are other problems involved with strip mining. When the mountain top is blown off, boulders have flown into the air and down the mountain crushing homes and killing people. The trucks that carry the coal down the mountain have been involved in numerous crashes where they have killed people. http://www.wvminesafety.org/fatal97.htm http://www.mine.statler.wvu.edu/cerb/GOLD_STANDARD_CERB%20FinalReport2013-003.pdf

The health of the miners who work in strip mining has to be taken into consideration also. The risks for cancers, lung disease and other diseases have gone up, with black lung the main risk. http://www.npr.org/2012/07/09/156377872/surface-coal-miners-at-risk-for-black-lung The website http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2010/01/blac-j11.html has really good information on the health problems involved with coal and strip mining. I’ve given varied and numerous sites showing that these issues are a real concern. As we all know, poverty is a problem in Appalachia. That is also something to think about, is the poverty that this region has been suffering from for many decades one reason for these environmental and health issues?

This is a huge problem, affecting all of Appalachia. We really must have an intelligent conversation regarding our use of energy and how we can find other ways to manage that use. The government site http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=427&t=3 states that we get 39% of our energy from coal, and a total of 67% from fossil fuels including: coal, natural gas and petroleum. Obviously these materials that we’re using to generate energy are not self-sustaining and are finite. I’m interested in your comments on how we can utilize sustainable energy. What do you think?

transforminglifenow

Changing my life for health and happiness

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Paying Attention to Your Energy Levels

Coffee and Me

Let’s Think About It – Fracking and You

Let’s Think About It – Strip Mining, Coal and You