photo by Future-PhD



 How about some algae?

I was having a conversation with my father last night.  He lives in northern Vermont, almost on the Canadian border.  We almost (luckily) avoided politics, which we usually have to put on boxing gloves for when we have discussions.  I don’t know if his skewed views are from his surroundings in Vermont, from Canada, or if he has radically changed in his older years from the person I knew growing up.  But we disagree on everything.

He happened to mention that my brother-in-law, who lives in Connecticut with my sister and has been retired for several years, was asked to take a temporary job and jumped at the chance.  If you’ve ever driven through Pennsylvania and looked at the sides of the roads as they cut through the hills, you may have noticed the ridges in the stone in the hills.  Those ridges are made by jackhammers.  That’s what my brother-in-law did all his life…run the jackhammer while making roads.  He made good money but lost his hearing doing it. 

My sister and her family are down-to-earth country people. They, like so many people in the Northeastern United States, heat their homes with oil furnaces.  They have to plan ahead in summer as to how much oil they believe they will need for the winte, as they have to pay for it all at once.  There is no budget billing as with the electric/gas company.  When my brother-in-law that took that phone call, he took the job knowing that the price of furnace oil was going to cost so much he didn’t know how he was going to afford it.

Our electric bills in the midwest are horrible enough, but could you imagine paying $5 a gallon when you need 800 gallons of heating oil? I expect we will hear of many deaths this coming winter from people who couldn't afford heat.  Many more than usual. 



These are typical wood pellets, produced primarily as a wood
industry by-product for use as a heating fuel. (MPR Photo/Bob Kelleher)



Enter the creation of wood pellets....for people who can afford the initial switchover to a new furnace...

What a great concept.

Homeowners who use heating oil see alternatives   à here

Arctic sea ice is seen off the coast of Uummannaq, North Greenland.

Scientists believe North Pole ice may melt completely, but briefly, for the first time this summer. Tony Blair talks to Maggie Rodriguez about his efforts to make climate change a real global issue. 
 

Also re-visit:

The Camouflaged Cause of So-called Global Warming       

The Department of Water and Power workers in Los Angeles, as well as local officials and community activists
opened a white tub from where they poured 400,000 black colored balls into the water.  image (c) Dakota Smith

If there’s one thing I love about my yard, it’s the flowers.  We try to plant mostly perennials.  And different plants have come and gone.  As the summer progresses you’ll see some of what I have this year. 

After this winter, with the very heavy snow, I’m concerned about what we lost. One of our battles seems to be with roses.  We’ve had some good years, and some bad.  This past winter did a lot of damage.  These pictures (from last year) are all we have left of most of our roses….we've lost vibrant reds, oranges, pretty pinks and creamy yellows.




















Christian Science Monitor has an article about a rose scrub variety that's been around a few years.

I've seen it from afar and always comment on how nice it looks.  It lasts all summer and is bright and bold.  I've just always thought it looked so much like wild roses and that 's what has kept me away from it.  I'm learning it's low maintenance and hearty, so maybe that's the way to go.

Do you like roses?

Check out their article and see if you might be interested in this selection.  


 Winner by a Knock Out       í here

Out of vegetable oil….

It sure doesn’t look that difficult.

Well, not too difficult.

Sort of….

You’re being sent to Siberia!

The frozen tundra...

A death sentence for some ….

Because of Siberia’s remoteness, people would be exiled there with no hope of escape due to extreme temperatures, forests, animals; it was a huge prison….

At least that’s how it used to be in old-time Russia.

But times have changed.









Black Gold....



Photograph by: Gerd Ludwig, National Geographic June 2008

No, that’s not a spelling error…

I meant to write “idle.”

This story has nanny state written all over it.





“The Minneapolis City Council and Mayor R.T. Rybak approved changes Friday, to the city’s vehicle idling ordinance that aims to reduce air pollution. The ordinance limits most vehicle idling to three minutes, except in traffic.”









Cripes!

What’s really telling is that Minneapolis had a vehicle idling ordinance in the first place. 

You know…you can put the useful information out in a newsletter… or get it to the public at registration renewal time.

Don’t idle!  Idle bad!

But do you really need an ordinance?

Read the article from ABC News   í  here

Asphalt being used in paving a road

The price of oil not only has an impact on the price of gas. 

What about the price of plastics? 

And how about the cost of building roads? 

Roads are most often made with asphalt. 

A portion of asphalt is made with oil.







“Until now, asphalt has been cheap, which is another reason hot mixes have remained the standard. But as the price of petroleum has hit record levels, so too has the price of asphalt - and the cost of applying it. Asphalt sold for $35 a ton a few years ago, but it's up to $80 and could hit $100. That has some states scaling back repaving projects and looking for alternatives. Asphalt already is one of the most frequently widely recycled products in the country, but switching to cold-mix would allow the use of even more recycled products - which already include rubber, glass and concrete - when producing blacktop.”

“[T]he prices that we’re paying at the pump today are, I think, going to be ‘the good old days,’ because others who watch this very closely forecast that we’re going to be hitting $12 and $15 per gallon,” [Robert] Hirsch said. “And then, after that, when oil – world oil production goes into decline, we’re going to talk about rationing. In other words, not only are we going to be paying high prices and have considerable economic problems, but in addition to that, we’re not going to be able to get the fuel when we want it.”

I'm not talking about for getting high on grass.

I'm talking about for letting the grass on your lawn get too high.

That's what the Canton, Ohio City Council wants to do to offenders.

Like Franklin, they already have a weed control ordinance on the books.

But that's not enough.


"For residents tired of that overgrown lot that resembles a minijungle next door, the city wants to help by trying to put high-grass violators behind bars.

City Council wants to beef up its existing high-grass and weeds law by making a second offense a fourth-degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $250 and up to 30 days in jail.

In the spring and summer, it's not uncommon for council members to field complaints from residents about overgrown lots owned by individuals or banks and corporations that ignore the law and notices in the mail.

More than 8 inches constitutes high grass or weeds, according to city law. First-time violators now face a minor misdemeanor, which carries up to a $150 fine and no jail time.

The proposed amendment passed second reading Monday night, and is up for passage at next Monday's council meeting.

Strengthening the law would give judges and police "a way to get their attention," Law Director Joseph Martuccio said of lawbreakers. More pressure also could be applied to lot owners and those responsible through letters, conferences and prosecutor's hearings, he said. "

Read the full article on the CantonRep.Com