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Retro Video- House of the future
Disneyland’s 1957 Monsanto House of Tomorrow.
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Bottled water industry faces growing opposition
Last week’s decision by a York County water board to delay a vote on whether to sell municipal water to Nestle Corp., the owner of Poland Spring, did not happen in a vacuum.
* Last month in McCloud, Calif., after encountering opposition to what would have been the largest water bottling plant in the country, Nestle announced plans to significantly reduce the plant’s size.
* Earlier this month in Enumclaw, Wash., the city council rejected a proposal to allow Nestle to build another such plant.
* And last Monday, the U.S. Conference of Mayors voted to phase out use of bottled water for municipal employees.
Across the country, opposition to bottled water is building, amid growing concerns about the industry’s environmental impact and rising fears about private control of public water supplies.
“There’s no question that there is a groundswell,” said Ruth Caplan, coordinator of Defending Water for Life, a Washington, D.C.-based campaign that opposes the bottled water industry.
There are several reasons for the backlash to bottled water. Some of it is driven by fears about global warming - given the amount of oil needed to bottle and transport the water.
Some stems from concerns about the chemical makeup of plastic water bottles.
Some of the opposition is a byproduct of the huge price disparity between bottled water and the kind of water that comes from the tap for free.
Here in Maine, some of the local opposition to Poland Spring’s operations has stemmed from the traffic generated by the trucks that transport the water.
Perhaps the biggest factor, though, is a fear that as bottled water becomes more popular, private corporations are gaining more control over a natural resource that is central to life.
“The fundamental issue is, who owns the water?” said Jim Olson, an attorney for Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, which has been engaged in a legal battle with Nestle. “If this company gets to do it, all companies get to do it, and you’re not going to be able to say no in the future.”
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We need to stop the commoditization of this resource which is the lifeblood of the Earth. Water is a human right. It cannot be bought by Nestle at the expense of the poor in countries where water is already scarce. It is a good sign to see people finally standing up to these companies. Last week’s decision by a York County water board to delay a vote on whether to sell municipal water to Nestle Corp., the owner of Pol... more -
U.S. prison system a costly and harmful failure: report
The number of people in U.S. prisons has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to taxpayers and society, researchers said in a report calling for a major justice-system overhaul.
The report on Monday cites examples ranging from former vice-presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby to a Florida woman's two-year sentence for throwing a cup of coffee to make its case for reducing the U.S. prison population of 2.2 million -- nearly one-fourth of the world's total.
It recommends shorter sentences and parole terms, alternative punishments, more help for released inmates and decriminalizing recreational drugs. It said the steps would cut the prison population in half, save $20 billion a year and ease social inequality without endangering the public.
But the recommendations run counter to decades of broad U.S. public and political support for getting tough on criminals through longer, harsher prison terms and to the Bush administration's anti-drug and strict-sentencing policies.
"President (George W.) Bush was right," in commuting Libby's perjury sentence this year as excessive, the report said. But he should also have commuted the sentences of hundreds of thousands of other Americans, it said.
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Our prison system is a direct reflection on us as a people and a nation, and our moral and constitutional code. And we are failing on all counts. The number of people in U.S. prisons has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to taxpayers and s... more -
George Washington on the danger of political parties
From George Washington's Farewell Address to the American people in 1796.
I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.
There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.
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Wise words as we have seen what he talked about here coming to fruition. Personally, I think the two party system in this country has run its course. It's time for true Democracy to come back again to America. It is time to give the people a real choice instead of the moneyed choices we get year after year which place standing and connections over reason. Factions do nothing but wear away the Democratic process, and as we have seen right now in America to the point where it is unrecognizable. We cannot even impeach a criminal regime because of political party partisanship standing in the way. The only way to bring real "change" is to then change the process instead of only changing the players. Real choice is real change. Even our founding fathers knew that. From George Washington's Farewell Address to the American people in 1796. ... more -
Johnny Cash: American V: A Hundred Highways
Rick Rubin, Producer of American V speaks about the songs and the mood behind making this great album which was released posthumously in 2006. News is that there will be an American VI released sometime this year. For me this album was Johnny Cash's way of saying farewell and preparing himself to meet his soulmate, June Carter. The songs are poignant and the album has a sad tone, but it is nevertheless beautiful and one of the best albums he ever made. The first song, Help Me, gets me everytime. He is more than a legend to me, he is a man who sang his soul and who touched mine. I will love him always and hope people who watch this are inspired to listen to more of his music. Long live The Man In Black. Rick Rubin, Producer of American V speaks about the songs and the mood behind making this great album which was released posthumously ... more
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Johnny Cash: "Hurt"
As this year ends I cannot help but think of those whose words and music influenced and filled my days. Johnny Cash is one of those people. I grew to love his music in the early seventies because my dad loved him. His music was not just considered "country", but music that appealed to those of us who knew what hard times were all about and those of us who rebelled against authority. He was a missive for the forgotten ones. He was indeed, "The Man In Black" and I treasured every moment I spent with my dad listening to his songs, that I now listen to with my own son. So in thinking about him and still to this day listening to his music that spanned generations and genres I am reminded of what he also suffered in his own life that made him stronger and the love he found with June Carter that led him to the words he sang that inspired me, and I miss him. As this year ends I cannot help but think of those whose words and music influenced and filled my days. Johnny Cash is one of those pe... more
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