To weayaya

Re: purchasing food locally…

The closer the better. Unfrozen meats at a local market, vegetables and fruit from local stands or market. We live near a very productive farming area in southern Ontario with great roadside stands that carry all local fresh produce, from the field to your table.

Not bruised from a 1,200 mile ride, picked prematurely so it partially ripens enroute.

Thanks for the visit.

Randy

Automobile Pollution Consequences

It is believed that at this growth rate, the number of cars on earth will double within the next 30 years. …

Source: World Watch Institute

Link: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1537

Michael Renner: Senior Researcher

In 2002, the world’s passenger car fleet hit 531 million. A quarter of these cars were in the United States, a country with just five percent of the world’s population, and a long known love affair for the automobile. The average car in the US travels 10 percent more each year than a car in the United Kingdom, about 50 percent more than one in Germany, and almost 200 percent more than a car in Japan.

And while Americans drive less fuel-efficient cars—the carbon emissions of U.S. automobiles are roughly equivalent to those of the entire Japanese economy – the fourth largest carbon emitter—efforts to raise mandated fuel efficiency standards in the U.S. are hitting constant road blocks.

End of excerpt.

Author’s comment:

I have had Asthma/COPD for the past 9 years. It has changed my life and the way I’m forced to live it 180 degrees, it happened overnight, gasping for breath unable to retrieve any air I expelled…I thought I was dying on the spot. I have survived by using 3 powerful drugs; some may contribute to an early death as a side effect! I was forced to end all sports, walk slowly…like an old man. This may be a result of chemicals from work, air pollution..no one has a definitive answer.

End of comment.

Asthma Epidemic Worldwide

Source: beating-asthma.com

Link: http://www.beating-asthma.com/asthma-statistics.html

Asthma Statistics Just Keep On Rising And Rising!

Asthma statistics show that more and more people have been diagnosed with the condition over the past years – so much so that some researchers state that the incidence of asthma has reached epidemic levels all over the world – and there has been plenty of research to support this evidence.

Because the numbers of people with asthma have risen so drastically, countries all over the world now recognise that this is a concern.

 

Asthma Statistics Worldwide

Approximately 300 million people worldwide have currently been diagnosed with asthma. And this number increases by an alarming 50% every decade!

The UK has the highest number of cases( over 15%), followed by New Zealand (with 15.1%), Australia (14.7%), the Republic of Ireland (14.6%), Canada (14.1%) and the United States(10.9%).

Approximately 180,000 people die every year through asthma related illness. It’s estimated that about 1 in every 250 deaths worldwide are related to asthma (American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology 2004). Overall, death rates have been falling since the 1980s.

Most asthma deaths occur in people over 45 years old and is it thought that many of these could be prevented.

Asthma Statistics USA

It’s estimated that 23.2 million people in the USA suffer from asthma – a figure that continues to rise year on year – Asthma and allergies strike affect 1 out of every 4 Americans according to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology.

It’s the major chronic illness of children in the USA. Nearly 9 million children under the age of 18 (that’s 12% of all children) have been diagnosed with the condition and children miss much of their schooling due to chronic illness from the condition (over 12.8 million school days are lost each year according to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology).

Comment:

If we as a Society believe, that the weak and inferior will be the first to go, and we accept that as Nature’s way, I say we are wrong! Nature is not the source of the poisons killing the weak and possibly genetically inferior, we are. The first to die may not be genetically inferior at all; they might be the most genetically pure?

Our World and the Environment in which we live is being altered in ways we don’t yet understand. Those that die today may only be the “tip of the Iceberg”, foreshadowing a horrendous future for all of Humanity. We do not know if the environmental toxins, produced by industry, are literally degrading our very genetic makeup, damning mankind to oblivion.

Cargo Ship Emissions

Authors Note: Number of ships on Earth.

**It has been estimated that only 7,000 cargo ships produce as much pollution as every car on Earth. This is 7,000 out of over 50,000 ships. That would mean, estimate, cargo ships Worldwide currently produce 7 times the automotive pollution produced in The World. This will increase dramatically in the very near future.

Source: Friends of the Earth

Link: http://www.foe.org/air-and-water/ship-emissions

 

Ship Air Pollution

As at 1st January 2008, the world trading fleet was made up of 50,525 ships, with a combined tonnage of 728,225,000 gross tonnes.

The amount of air pollution produced by ocean-going vessels is staggering.   A single cargo ship can produce as much air pollution as 350,000 cars in an hour.  These large, ocean-going ships operate on diesel engines the size of a single-family home, and most burn “bunker” fuel, which is cheap, but much more polluting than fuels used to power vehicles.  Bunker fuel contains high concentrations of toxic compounds banned from use in most other industrial and consumer applications.

As global trade increases, global shipping is expected to double within the next decade,   bringing shipping pollution to new highs.  EPA estimates that emissions from ocean-going vessels will double their contributions to the national mobile source inventory of sulfur oxides and quadruple particulate matter—both of which are major health threats.   According to EPA, by 2030 shipping is expected to grow nearly three-fold over 2000 levels.   This increased level of shipping not only degrades air quality, but also contributes to the acidification and eutrophication of waterways through deposition and carbon dioxide emissions.

President Obama and the House Democrats – Pals ??

President Obama will have his hands full, not with the traditional Democratic adversaries Republicans….but with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. The fur is already starting to fly, backs are arching and “low growls can be heard around the Capitol.”

The behind the scenes power plays will now begin in earnest! Faces and names MUST be center stage, a Politicians “raison d’etre.”
Me thinks there will be some harsh words behind closed doors regarding this behaviour on day two of President Obama’s first term…? I predict a second term…without doubt!
The current near catastrophic situation, left behind “like a burning paper paper bag full of….” on the doorstep by the Bush Administration will take at least a decade to clean up.
Then after two terms the “old switcheroo”, Republicans will be given their next “kick at the can”. At that time I predict after all the chaos begins to quiet down the old mantra of The Republican Party will re-emerge “lower taxes on the rich and all will be well with The World.” We’ve seen how that works after eight years of The Bush Administration, haven’t we?

NASA – Severe Space Weather

January 21, 2009: Did you know a solar flare can make your toilet stop working?

That’s the surprising conclusion of a NASA-funded study by the National Academy of Sciences entitled Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts. In the 132-page report, experts detailed what might happen to our modern, high-tech society in the event of a “super solar flare” followed by an extreme geomagnetic storm. They found that almost nothing is immune from space weather—not even the water in your bathroom.

Go to: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/21jan_severespaceweather.htm?list1091846

Global warming…really….?

A little know fact seems to be, “just before an Ice Age occurs the Earth gets very warm.”

Hmmmmm…..

The age of The Earth is about 4.5 Billion years, our documented temperature change records are about 150 years, do we really have enough information…?? I suspect not. Ice and soil core samples used by Geologists give what we believe are fairly accurate readings regarding temperature, air and other chemical signatures. Ice Ages have occured with frightening regularity over the Millennia.

The radical Scientists, making television and Academic careers by frightening the peasants should be ashamed! The average person has “more than enough angst to deal with now” – what with terrorism, War, unemployment, the price of gas/food and other basic necessities. “Fear is our common enemy”, used by our own and external enemies.

The fear engendered by the terrorists in this World is almost their only weapon*** When you may have our own citizens and countrymen using this fear for their own devices is “truly frightening!”

I ask you: what is more important at this moment, “defeating your fear; of terrorists/government and scientists” OR ignore all of the “clowns seeking to make a mark in History, as opposed to serving their Societies.”

McCain delays Vice Presidential Debate

Sarah’s NOT Ready??

September 24, 2008

 

            Senator McCain has proposed returning to Washington, where he hasn’t been involved in a vote since April, to become involved in the “Bailout debate.” This is a political stunt, to appear decisive and Presidential; it also delays this Friday’s debate with Senator Obama. More critically to the voters, it delays the Vice Presidential debates, why?  Sarah is unprepared because of her lack of experience in World Affairs.

            To delay a debate that both candidates, McCain and Palin are unprepared for, is showing great potential Presidential fortitude ..not, and probable future behavior if elected.

P.S. Glenn Beck

I do love Glenn Beck, he loves the country and is passionate about defending it. God Bless you Glenn Beck, Democrats can care about Republicans, even when they are mistaken.

Gandalf the Grey

Reply to Darren

Darren:

   Thank you for your response to my blog entry. The notion of redistribution of wealth is abhorrent to everyone! If you work hard to earn what you have, the Government should keep their hands “out of your pockets.” In this I whole heartedly agree with you. What I do not agree with is, an Administration that places the Country into one large hot War and one small hot War, at the same time, giving huge tax breaks to the wealthy when the Country can least afford it.

Placing aside for a moment whether the War in Iraq was justified, a “fiscal conservative” would never have placed this huge debt on the backs of future generations without paying for as much as possible – today! “This is the major redistribution of wealth of which I spoke.”

   I believe the War in Afghanistan was a righteous and justified War, sad so many of our boys won’t come home standing. I believe the War in Iraq was NOT justified, after all the misinformation, (lies ?), that where used as reason to go in. Sadaam was going nowhere, eventually he would have died. The focus should have remained on Bin Laden, he should be dead now! Finish that affair before moving on to another.

   I am 57 years old Darren, worked in the Automotive Industry for 30 years. I was diagnosed eight years ago with “Occupational Asthma” which will kill me about a decade prematurely. Our company, like many hundreds of others, went bankrupt, outsourcing to China – Mexico and others. What can I do now? I can’t breathe well enough to do physical jobs, I now make $11.70 an hour, down from $25.00 an hour five years ago. 

   The fairness I seek is for all to share a common burden. We must ALL pay our fair share, I don’t mind even from my meager earnings. It irritates me when I see tax cuts for the top 1% being proposed to be a permanent piece of legislation when the deficit has gone into the stratosphere.

Darren: peace be with you and thank you for your passion and involvement. Help make America a better place in the future, for all our children.

Glenn Beck’s guest’s comments..

Guest Statement: “Re-distribution of wealth…..”

 

September 4, 2008.

 

            I have just nearly laughed myself sick, being an Asthmatic; this could be a major issue. A guest of Glenn Beck on CNN, channel 31 in Canada – second tier, to fill time on the “Second Channel”, had a guest that commented about Barack Obama and a so called major re-distribution of wealth. “YUK-YUK-YUK, hack cough spit, chuckle, gasp, gasp…!

          The supposed re-distribution of wealth being discussed is; the multi-millionaires and billionaires that have profited for 8 long years under Bush, finally losing their personal tax cuts that profited 1% of The American people for nearly a decade.

          The tax cuts proposed by Obama on the other hand, benefit 95% of The American people. Somewhat more fair the average “joe” might believe. I am an average joe and have been abused by the wealthy regarding my taxes since I began work, at age 13 my first job, until now at 57 I know we are used and abused by the “upper class as it has always been.” The peoples of Democracies all over the World share the same abuse, and have always suffered at the hands of the wealthy since the very beginning.

          The Republican Party, George Bush and Dick Cheney, are part of the ruling class, those that have rewarded other wealthy friends with Billions of dollars in tax breaks, they now want to make permanent, for the poor Millionaires and Billionaires that share their belief: “the poor should pay all the bills of a nation – forever. This sounds suspiciously like the attitude of Marie Antoinette and King Louis the XVI, as the country crumbled about them, they enjoyed the good life! Sound familiar?