Rain had fallen in the overnight, and the piece of low-lying forest through which I wandered was mostly wetland, at the edge of a cattail-filled meadow. Beneath my hiking shoes the path was cushioned – not soggy, but like a carpet with a nice sponge under it. Ahead of me – he’s always ahead of me – Grady the Golden Retriever kept looking back to be sure I was following. If I stop, he’ll come back to me. If I reverse direction, he’ll come jogging past to take the lead on the new course.
Author: John Messeder
Coal, nukes, fracking and 16.9-ounce plastic bottles
Throughout this nation’s history, we have counted on a plentiful supply of water.
With 75 percent of the Earth’s surface covered by water, goes the old adage, clearly man was meant to spend 75 percent of his time fishing.
Unfortunately, with 75 percent of the planet covered by water, the majority of the Earth’s surface, once warmed, will stay that way – or get warmer.
New word needed to remind that Government is Us
One of the things that has bothered me during the past few election cycles is the way the challenging party always promises to take the country back – back from the precipice of dictatorship, collapsed economy, and moral decay.
And through it all, a certain group of industrialists loudly proclaim the need to protect Taxpayers from Government.
Demand for electricity straining water supplies
The Chicago Tribune reported last week nuclear and coal-fired power plants along the Great Lakes have been granted waivers to release hotter-than-normal water into the lakes, causing fish to die or migrate to deeper, cooler locales. Plant operators say they need the waivers because shutting down the plants will cost them profits and make them unable to supply electricity for their elderly customers.
PA Voter ID could fire up the Dems
During my tenure on the planet, I have witnessed numerous outcries directed toward those who would have a national identification card. Such an affront was OK for the less civilized and freedom-loving of fellow nations, but we would not be subjected to such insult.
Opponents of Pennsylvania’s Voter ID law say about 10 percent of the state’s voters will be disenfranchised (and) more likely to be Democrats. But throwing the 2012 presidential election to the Republican ticket isn’t the only goal.
Nuke power plants in hot water
Last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Agency put the brakes on renewing licenses for existing nuclear-powered electricity generating plants. The agency also announced it will not be approving any additional plants – at least in the near future.
And a nuke plant in Connecticut was shut down Sunday because the ocean water on which it depends has become too warm to use for cooling the plant’s processes.
What we do best
Google recently spent $12.5 billion dollars acquiring Motorola. Monday, the company known primarily as an Internet search engine announced it would be closing about one third of the 90 former Motorola facilities, and fire about 4,000 workers. That’s business.
What Google really wanted was the nearly 20,000 patents Motorola owned – heavy weaponry in the field of mobile communications, in which it seems everyone is suing everyone else – Google, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and others – over who actually invented the latest piece of technology, or even the way a switch moves up or down to select a function.
Bourne again
Last week, wife and I thought about going to a movie. The only interesting one was for kids, so we decided to wait for the granddaughters to be here this week. This week, there are three movies for grownups.
I wonder whether Jeremy Renner can live up to Matt Damon in the new attempt to squeeze more money from Jason Bourne fans. I wonder whether Will Ferrell can put the fun back into political campaigns. And I wonder … Continue reading Bourne again
Behind Door 1, Voter Fraud; behind Door 2, Global Warming
I suppose there is room for some question about whether global warming is even partially manmade. After all, scientists say, the entire globe once was a spinning molten mass.
Then, most of the northern hemisphere was blanketed in miles-deep ice. Next it became warm enough to reliably grow crops while encouraging some of its human inhabitants to, at least part of the year, wear warm clothing. So it’s getting a little warmer. What’s the big deal?
Of course, it does seem a little incongruous that certain politicians would exhort their compatriots to believe science, and then legislate denial of science that says the earth is becoming warmer and humans are helping it happen.
American women kick …
Someone said the other day, “American women kick (you know what)!”
It was a guy who said it, but the conversation that led to it was started by a woman. And both were right. Women had taken the majority of the U.S. gold medals – 24 of 34 at that point, I believe.
Yes, American woman do kick (you know what).
And so do American men. Continue reading American women kick …
Collecting bridges
I could tell you where this shot was taken, but that would spoil half the fun. If you know, give yourself 10 points. If you don’t, go take a drive in Adams County, PA, find it and then take your 10 points. (I’m really a generous scorer.)
Thing is, I enjoy history. Not book stuff, but real wander-around-in-it history.
EVs closing in, slowly, on their niche
Electric Vehicles are coming – as soon as the charging stations are built and the price comes down. They have the mirror image of the problem Marcellus Shale drillers having.
Nissan Leaf has sold about 1,400 of its all-electric LEAF so far this year, down about 70 percent from 2011 sales. The company only sold 370 of the “clean” little commuter cars in April.
High entry price, commuter-centric miles-per-charge, and few charging stations hinder rapid market expansion.
Look what I found (and what I didn’t)
Sometimes you just know something. You can’t prove it, but you know it’s true.
Thus it was with a catbird (at least I think it’s a catbird) in our front yard. Somewhere in the shrubs is a nest. I know that because Mama bird flitters around and squawks and tries to convince me the nest is where it ain’t, so I’ll not detect where it is.
Nero plays while …
In the past couple weeks, the evening news has been occupied with obesity, Distracted Walking, and appropriate attire for women playing Olympic beach volleyball.
NBC anchor Brian Williams had the first two items. For more than a week, aided by a steady parade of guest experts, he told us of the consequences of being obese. The obesity stories ran nightly until, I am certain by sheer coincidence, came the announcement of a new miracle drug that just might make everyone slim and sexy.
Appeals court says municipalities may tell frackers where to go
For years, Pennsylvania’s municipalities have held zoning power within their borders. As long as they provided a place within their borders for all legal land uses, they were allowed to tell developers of all stripe where to go.
But fracking developers did not want township leaders deciding whether the wells would be allowed near a school, or a pipeline under homes.
Pocket change: Fracking industry invests $23M in Pa legislature, reaps $1T profit
According to a release last week by MarcellusMoney.org, the Marcellus Shale natural gas industry has spent $23 million in direct contributions to favored legislator campaigns and lobbying efforts since 2000.
The big winners in the Cash for Legislation sweepstakes between 2000 and April 2012 were:
Yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater
When I stopped counting, there were 12 dead and 58 wounded in the audience that had, earlier in the evening, looked forward to a peaceful midnight opening of “The Dark Knight Rises” – third in a series of Batman movies.
Shortly after the shooting in Aurora, CO, authorities had arrested 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes …
“UnClean Coal” not listed on billboards
King Coal loudly proclaims its place in our society, from the employment it claims to offer to the electricity it sends to our homes. Billboards along the Interstate insist that coal – often referred to as “clean coal” – is the way to go for continued prosperity and energy independence.
But the billboards and television commercials leave out some established, and troubling, truths their supporters hope we will not notice lurking behind those huge signs.
Don’t kill the army because the general was infected
Joe Paterno guided his football teams to some pretty impressive performances. Football, we all know, is seasonal preoccupation – except in upper New England where winter isn’t just a word surrounding Christmas, and where basketball is the main focus, primarily, I suspect, because it’s not necessary to plow two feet of snow off the area between the hoops.
Football, in much of the nation, means money, and JoePa’s boys certainly made certain a healthy serving of it landed beneath the home goal posts in State College, Pa. – enough so that his final contract was $5.5 million and, one hoped, worth every penny.
JoePa’s fall from grace threatens to take the team down with him. It shouldn’t.
It’s all in the presentation
I bought a container of ice cream, recently. In its upper corner was a big sign boasting of “2 extra scoops, over 15% more ice cream than 1.5 quarts.”
I know I’m in the ranks of Senior Citizens, but does anyone still alive remember when a half-gallon box of ice cream actually contained two quarts of the frozen treat?
In 2007, I wrote a tradition among through-hikers on the Appalachian Trail. When they arrived at the half-way point on their trek along the 2,100-mile Georgia-to-Maine trail, many of them paused to attempt the Half-Gallon Challenge. The challenge was to see how quickly they could consume a half-gallon of ice cream.