 | "There's Justice In The Universe" |
| Posted 2/16/2009 8:33 PM CST Venezuela's growing alliance with Iran is now leading to government sponsored harrassment of Jews. Anti-Semitic activities are on the rise --- backed by government sponsored media openly calling for both publicly denouncing Jewish groups & for the accosting Jews on the street. And now that Chavez is effectively being made "president for life", we can expect to see both Iran and Russia's autocratic influences increase. |
| Posted 2/13/2009 8:56 PM CST By now, those of us in Austin's 'single stream' recycling collection area are familiar with the new criteria for what 'can' and 'cannot' be recycled: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/sws/singlestream.htm For items that cannot be 'single stream' recycled, it can be challenging to find alternatives. Here's what I do for some of those items : Food scraps (not meat) -- I feed to my Black Soldier Fly larvae and to earthworms. I also include crushed eggshells and small amounts of shredded paper. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050309135653.htm http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-51_black_soldier_fly.htm There's lots of other info on the net. The style of compost bin I use is open at the bottom & rests on the dirt. I never have to do anything except toss scraps in / the level never rises / and there's never any odor. Bonuses are the enhanced growth of the trees growing close-by & the fact that we no longer have any spiders, etcetera in the yard. It actually seems to repel houseflies as long as you don't throw in anything made with white flour. http://www.ematlantic.ca/images/compost/compost%20bin%20plastic.jpg Plastic bags -- I drop off at my local grocery stores. Clean and dry #2 and #4 plastic bags are accepted: http://www.ehow.com/how_10885_recycle-plastic-grocery.html I simply collect in a five gallon bucket & when it's full, I stuff them in one of the bags, knot it, toss it in the back of my truck, and whenever I happen to go grocery shopping, I take it in and drop it in the plastic bags recycle barrel. |
| Posted 2/11/2009 8:35 PM CST "I pray for my three friends, Pat Hardy of Ft. Worth , Bob Craig of Lubbock, and Geraldine 'Tincy' Miller of Dallas. They voted against the Republican Party platform and allowed themselves to be constantly lobbied by prominent atheists and secular humanists. These three Republicans will now have to stand accountable before their constituents." [ Texas State Board of Education Ken Mercer, R-San Antonio, writing about the state board's vote on proposed science curriuculum standards and -- once again -- making it clear that evolution deniers (such as himself) are trying to promote their own religious beliefs in public schools.] Read: http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/Pro-evolution_agenda_indoctination_not_education.html |
| Posted 2/8/2009 4:48 PM CST When I was in high school, I was very fortunate. I was allowed to graduate under both the College Prep & the Vocational program. Our school district was 10% Anglo and 90% Hispanic and not burdened with the Back To Basics constraints of fundamentalists and conservatives. For example, in Biology we were shown the complete development of the human embryo. We saw for ourselves the evolutionary past of our species (that included vestigial gills and a tail). We were also taught that the Americas had been peopled from a variety of sources other than those that came over the Bering Strait and from Europe. And no one minded the Blue Laws much -- because Sunday was a 'day of rest and recreation'. Human Tale Of Embryogenesis: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/section2.html#ontogeny_ex4 http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/wwwhuman/stages/stage14.htm |
| Posted 2/6/2009 12:55 PM CST "You cannot have evolution and God" is what hard core Creationists believe and is the premise behind Kentucky's 'Creation Museum', where dinosaurs are presented as another of God's creations. Robert Carr, a retired chief executive and contributor to the museum, said that in the early days of the Universe, time stretched differently. "When the Universe was smaller, the gravitational effect was huge and the time on Earth would have been a billion times slower," Carr said. This would explain why God created the Earth in six days, he believed. http://tinyurl.com/dxbsgg |
| Posted 2/5/2009 1:04 PM CST An analysis of more than 350,000 interviews conducted by Gallup in 2008 finds Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas to be the most "religious" states in the nation (Texas tied with Kentucky for tenth place). Vermont , New Hampshire , Maine, Massachusetts and Alaska are the least religious states. When you Google 'define: religious', you will not see the word spirit referred to in any of the 43 definitions given. Religious refers to any specific system of code of ethics, values, and beliefs. The spirituality that Christ brought is diminished the closer you get to codifying faith. Faith is strengthened by living the Eleventh Commandment -- which was the message that Christ brought. Churchianity does not equate with 'Christ'ianity. Gallup Poll: http://www.gallup.com/poll/114022/State-States-Importance-Religion.aspx |
| Posted 2/4/2009 5:03 PM CST There are 305 million people in the U.S. today. We're on track, with current immigration numbers, to add another 135 million in just 40 years. That means more stress on the environment. More roads. More cars. More oil. And more pressure on the economy and on a healthcare system that isn't working. Before we can honestly address the problems facing us, we need to have a serious discussion about the numbers. http://www.immigrationnumbers.com/ Be Heard: http://www.immigrationnumbers.com/solutions.html p.s.- the stimulus bill on the Senate floor would provide construction jobs to roughly 300,000 illegal aliens |
| Posted 2/3/2009 1:36 PM CST How unfortunate it is that we who live in Travis County are represented on the State Board of Education by 'creationists'. Ken Mercer and Cynthia Dunbar portray Christians as a victimized group, then proceed to embarrass the rest of us Christians by too narrowly interpreting Bible. They fail to grasp the infinite wonder of God's creation by trying to use Genesis as a geology textbook. http://www.teachthemscience.org/texas/sboe#mercer http://www.teachthemscience.org/texas/sboe#dunbar |
| Posted 2/2/2009 1:56 PM CST The current Salmonella contamination in peanut butter products is the most recent failure of FDA's ability to inspect and regulate our food system. The Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency that is supposed to create a safety net to protect consumers from unsafe food, can't handle the job. Now is the time to reorganize and create a better agency that can actually deal with food safety. Here are a few examples of lax or non-existent enforcement: * FDA inspects domestic food facilities only once every five to ten years. * FDA conducts virtually no inspections of foreign firms that export their food products to the U.S. * FDA does not have the authority to order a recall of unsafe food - it can only suggest that a company do a voluntary recall. * FDA does not have the authority to require private laboratories that do food safety testing to be certified. Take Action: http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/t/741/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26489 |
Posted 1/31/2009 4:35 PM CST
Congress and President Bush gave Wall Street an unprecedented $700 billion taxpayer bailout to stabilize the economy. The first $350 billion has been spent with nothing to show for it. Not only is the economy getting worse, but the government has no idea what the banks did with the money.
Please sign the petition urging your Representative to help us Secure America’s Financial Future.
PETITION TEXT
Dear Member of Congress,
I’m urging you to fix the Wall Street bailout and take steps to guarantee that it never happens again. Financial reform legislation must include:
• Accountability: Hold both banks and their regulators accountable. Require greater disclosure and oversight for all the taxpayer money they’re spending.
• Consumer Protection: Establish a Consumer Credit Safety Commission to ensure that credit cards, bank loans and mortgages are safe for consumers and homeowners.
• Comprehensive Regulation: Close the loopholes that have allowed investment banks, hedge funds, insurance companies and others that sell risky, unregulated products to take advantage of the federal safety net and taxpayer bailouts without accountability.
http://www.texpirg.org/action/financial-security/petition?id4=ES
Note: When signing petitons, you only need use your first initial. Phone numbers are not required.
Please sign the petition urging your Representative to help us Secure America’s Financial Future.
PETITION TEXT
Dear Member of Congress,
I’m urging you to fix the Wall Street bailout and take steps to guarantee that it never happens again. Financial reform legislation must include:
• Accountability: Hold both banks and their regulators accountable. Require greater disclosure and oversight for all the taxpayer money they’re spending.
• Consumer Protection: Establish a Consumer Credit Safety Commission to ensure that credit cards, bank loans and mortgages are safe for consumers and homeowners.
• Comprehensive Regulation: Close the loopholes that have allowed investment banks, hedge funds, insurance companies and others that sell risky, unregulated products to take advantage of the federal safety net and taxpayer bailouts without accountability.
http://www.texpirg.org/action/financial-security/petition?id4=ES
Note: When signing petitons, you only need use your first initial. Phone numbers are not required.
