Clann Tartan at Charles City
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Tag Archives: environment
Weed-killer, Seeds, Pollution, Milk–the evil of Monsanto
I just looked at a jug of milk in our refrigerator. The label says
Milk from cows not treated with rbST.
No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST treated and non-rbST treated cows.
I have often thought that phraseology sounded odd, and wondered why. I found out today when I read Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear, which begins
Monsanto already dominates America’s food chain with its genetically modified seeds. Now it has targeted milk production. Just as frightening as the corporation’s tactics–ruthless legal battles against small farmers–is its decades-long history of toxic contamination.
Via Slashdot
Tedious necessities
Today’s snowstorm (this is Minnesota) meant that I was an hour late getting home. Also cold and wet. I immediately had to load some dead computer stuff (4 computers, 1 monitor, and 1 scanner) into the car for recycling tomorrow. Then I had to type up, edit, and submit the minutes of colgaffneyis last Board meeting–the next one is Tuesday. I finished that just after 8PM. Next I had to do taxes. I had done most of the work last week so I was able to finish a little after 9. And I think it is finished. The returns (one for us and one for J) have been submitted electronically and I have saved backup copies of the files (I work in systems administration–paranoia is my profession). The only possible issue is that a return might be rejected by either the IRS or Minnesota. This is unlikely. TurboTax is quite good and our tax life is not that interesting. Just sometimes painful.
Conservation of Energy: Not just a good idea, it is the law.
Awareness of the problem with biofuels is spreading, but Sean Carroll speaks more to this geek than Paul Krugman or the editors of Time:
Funny thing about energy: it’s conserved! …. We bring you this reminder because a knowledge of basic physics can occasionally be helpful when formulating public policy.
In particular, biofuels (such as ethanol) and hydrogen are not actually sources of energy — given the vagaries of thermodynamics, it costs more energy to create them than we can get by actually using them, as there will inevitably be some waste heat and entropy produced.
For news junkies
Coming to your home….
California Seeks Thermostat Control
Next year in California, state regulators are likely to have the emergency power to control individual thermostats, sending temperatures up or down through a radio-controlled device that will be required in new or substantially modified houses and buildings to manage electricity shortages.
via Slashdot.
I seem to be part of a movement.
(See yesterday’s post.)
Buy Nothing Day. From my old friend Sister Edith at Monastic Musings.
Change of Plans
Looks like I will not be driving to Bloomington today to recycle our old computers. The event shut down early because of an overwhelming community response.
Progress on various fronts
The Morning After
As mia_mcdavid wrote, we are OK.
The bus I take to work had not been using the 35W Bridge across the Mississippi, so I was able to ride it to work downtown as I have been doing. It was slower than it had been: There was a lot more traffic on Central Avenue and the 3rd Ave. bridge than before, as you might expect with one of the other major bridges gone. Looking out the bus window I could see the cars were bumper-to-bumper. I could only see one with more than a single occupant. Sigh….
A few yards away from my cubicle here I can look out the window and see the broken bridge in the distance.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 