The Positive Side of Global Warming!!

When you attempt to scale Mt. Everest, you need to bring a lot of stuff: tents, sleeping bags, food, ropes, pick axes, clothes, and perhaps most importantly, oxygen tanks. The air is so thin, at some point it contains a third of the oxygen of lower altitudes. A climber can only survive for up to three days in such conditions. Many have not survived and have left their bodies behind in addition to all sorts of litter--tons of it.

Mt. Everest is a holy place for the Nepalese people and some of the Sherpas who guide climbers up to the topmost peak are able to now clean up the mountain top because the snow melt has allowed them to see the garbage to clear it.

Enough snow is now gone, it is worth it to climb up and retrieve tons of litter and several bodies of dead climbers.

So, there's an upside to global warming!!

Things Only a Republican Could Believe

I know not all Republicans believe these contradictory things. I do know this. There are plenty of Republicans who simply want less government interference in the daily life of Americans and want lower taxes. Really, I do know this. I don't think of all Republicans when I read the following list... However, I know there are plenty of Republicans who do believe these contradictory things and who paint our public life in broad strokes and don't see any dissonance in their reasoning.

So with that said, here we go:

Things Only a Republican Could Believe:

• Parents who don't want their children to pray in school are Anti-American zealots -- parents who don't want their children to listen to a speech by the President of the United States telling them to work hard and get good grades are noble patriots.

• Peacefully demonstrating against the country starting an international war is treason -- showing up with automatic weapons to protest healthcare reform is democracy at its finest.

• Any government official with a desk job should have every action scrutinized -- any government official with a badge and a gun should never be questioned or disrespected. At all. Ever.

• Questioning the legitimacy of an election because the "winner" was selected by the Supreme Court is sour grapes -- questioning the legitimacy of an election because the winner (by the largest number of votes in American history) is really a Kenyan born Muslim despite all evidence to the contrary is being a vigilant American.

• Lying about a blowjob is an impeachable offense -- lying about a war is no big deal, really.

• Investigating a shady land deal involving the First Lady is a matter of National Identity -- investigating the use of torture at the direction of the Executive Branch is a partisan witch hunt.

• Executing Japanese officers for waterboarding prisoners during WWII shows that we have the moral high-ground on human rights -- waterboarding prisoners of our own shows that we have the moral high-ground on human rights.

• Sitting two rows in front of Jane Fonda in a 1970 anti-war rally is an OUTRAGE! Shaking Saddam's hand in 1983...meh, not so much.

• Anyone who questions the president during a time of war is giving aide and comfort to the enemy and should be deported...unless the president in question has a (D) next to their name in which case you should undermine them at every turn even if you have to routinely make shit up to do it.

• Socialism, Marxism, Communism and Fascism are all interchangeable words that mean pretty much the same thing.

• Anyone who abuses drugs should be locked up indefinitely...unless they are a popular Republican radio host in which case they need your prayers as they recover from the illness of addiction.

• Health Insurance companies have your best interests in mind and anyone who thinks otherwise is trying to turn America into the Godless heathen nation of Sweden where EVERYONE in the country dies (eventually).

• Obama is an atheist communist muslim who attended a radical christian church.

• Believing that human activity could impact the global environment is crazy talk -- believing that an invisible man in the sky personally told George Bush to invade Iraq to fulfill Biblical prophecy is logically sound.

• The verdict is still out on evolution -- but Jesus Christ returning in our lifetimes is pretty much a given.

• The media are unquestionably biased against Republicans -- Talk Radio, The Washington Times, The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, Rightwing Blogs, Fox News and NewsCorp are not part of the media.

• The government should have no part in regulating multi-national corporations as they make decisions that impact the lives of millions of people -- government should regulate individuals by determining who they can marry, what kind of intercourse they can have, what they can smoke, how to manage their pregnancy and how to proceed with end of life decisions.

• Communicating with hostile nations is a stab in the back to our great nation -- Reagan communicating with the USSR during the Cold War was Political Genius.

• Iran is a mortal threat to our nation and anyone who attempts to talk to them is traitorous scum -- selling weapons to Iran and then funneling the money to start wars in South America is clearly in our National interest.

• George Bush kept the nation safe after 9-11 (NOTE: the Anthrax attacks, the DC Sniper and Hurricane Katrina don't count. Also, the fact that 9-11 happened on his watch despite receiving a security briefing specifically warning of the attack doesn't count either.)

• Social Security, Meidcare, public schooling, public libraries, fire departments, police departments and the US Military are as American as Apple Pie -- universal healthcare is ZOMGDEATHPANELSOCIALISM!!

• George W Bush is a regular 'ole Texas rancher just like you and me despite the fact that he was born in Connecticut, attended two Ivy League schools, bought the Crawford ranch just before running for president, sold it immediately after leaving office and is terrified of horses.

• The two guys at the center of the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals are trustworthy voices in discussions of current national policy and should be taken at face-value.

  
  

  (I did not write this but found it on numerous sites. I didn't see who the author is or I would give him/her credit. It is good isn't it?)

Slumdog Millionaire

Over the weekend, I visited my sister and parents up in Madison. My sister D. and I had a girls' night out and went out to a theater to see Slumdog Millionaire. It is beautifully filmed, wonderfully acted and filled with despairing scenes of slum life and little kids working in the garbage dumps in Mumbai. I cried at those scenes the most--more so than the plot line, which also moved me to tears. I wanted the characters to survive and then I wanted them to succeed.

I left the theater wondering if those scenes could have accurately depicted the harsh reality of the Mumbai slums. Was it real?

Looks real to me...





Here's a short film with real kids just like those depicted in Slumdog Millionaire. This looks real to me too...

Napkin Holder, Circa Early 21st Century

Yesterday, as I was in the kitchen and on the phone with my husband, I noticed that the matte finish on our wicked cool, simple, tubular metal napkin holder is scraping off. It's shiny underneath and is starting to look a little beat up if you look closely at it. I got it online from Chefs Catalog and really liked it when I bought it pre-compact. I casually mentioned the current state of the napkin holder to my husband and it really got him going.

Now, why can't a napkin holder last 300 years?! I bet I could make a napkin holder that could last 300 years--I bet I could make one that would last 1,000 years. Why shouldn't a napkin holder last hundreds of years?!

He could do it. He's a great designer and could figure out the best materials and the best way to fashion it. Somehow, I don't think that a napkin holder is what our progeny would like to inherit from us, but I don't think they want this either, do they?

Freecycle--Save an Object From Landfill

Do you guys all know about Freecycle? It is sort of like bartering, except you just give your stuff away without any expectation in return...Yep. And then, if you want something, and someone has posted an offering, you answer, and maybe they'll pick you and you'll get it. Easy peasy. Huh? Is this not clear? Let me start at the beginning.

Freecycle formed several years ago in Arizona and now has groups all over the world. The whole point of it is to give away stuff to people who want it and save it from filling up landfills. People post offerings to the freecycle group online, people answer the post and then the offerer chooses who they would like to have it. If you really need a goldenrod breadbox from the 70's, you can post a wanted post and someone may answer you and give it to you. This freecycle system is a great way to join up people who have stuff that would otherwise go to landfill with people who can really use your stuff.

We have given away: our screen door after we got a new one, a bicycle, crystal Irish coffee mugs (not my scene), a Krups bagel toaster, the Burley bicycle kids' trailer that we got at a bike swap and that still had a lot of life left in it.

We have received: a bunch of cut wood for our fireplace, a bicycle for my son, an upright freezer to store our grass-fed beef, a floor plant, a set of encyclopedias from the early 90's but still have accurate information about things like minerals and seeds etc.

There has been criticism with the original founders of Freecycle wanting to control what is really an autonomous, grassroots, local effort. Many people have broken away from Freecycle and have formed their own groups. Here is a Wikipedia article about how Freecycle got started and how it has had problems.

If you are interested in getting things that you can use, and in getting rid of things you can't, check and see if there's a freecycle, or freecycle-like group in your area.

I'm sure all of the overcrowded landfills will thank you.

The Waste Diet

A St. Louis family realized how much waste they produce and decided to try and cut WAY back. They challenge all of us to try it for a day, week, month or even a year as they are doing.

How much waste do you think you or your household generates in a day? Check out The Waste Diet and see how you compare to them. I always feel good when we only have two bags of garbage a week and four bins of recyclables. Some of our neighbors have mountains of waste towering at the curb on garbage pick up days. We're one of the least garbage generating families on our block, and it still feels like a huge amount.

Recently, I heard about a woman who wanted to feel how much garbage she generated in a day and so she required herself to have to carry all of the garbage she created. She was shocked. I think that would be a very difficult challenge. What about kleenex?

What is handkerchief etiquette? Is there handkerchief etiquette? There must be some polite, not at all gross way to use them. Are there any older readers who do use them or grew up using them who can explain it to me? I know it must seem simple and obvious, but it seems gross. I'd like to start using a cloth handkerchief for myself and my kids and at least stop wasting kleenex all day long.

Oh, venerable non-wasting-kleenex-all-the-time-one. I am your disciple--teach me.