Hi again, folks, and happy NOT April Fools Day. I hate to sound like Scrooge or the Grinch, but tricking people and possibly giving them cardiac arrest is not my idea of a real fun time. Sure, it’s a good laugh for the joker but not always for the recipient. To me, that’s a little liking making love when your partner’s not in the mood. Or giving the cat a bath.
I personally suspect that April Fools Day is another manufactured holiday invented by and lobbied into existence jointly by companies who manufacture whoopee cushions and handshake buzzers and by the Benevolent Society of Sadists and Masochists.
Speaking of dumb things, someone please explain to me the logic behind an electronic cigarette. It’s advertised as “cancer free” and while the user still inhales nicotine (which is not a direct carcinogenic), what’s exhaled is harmless water vapor. Nicotine itself, however, is still a major health risk and a contributor to the growth and spread of cancer, according to Columbia Encyclopedia.
I guess that means that if you want to slowly and publicly continue to shorten your life, at least there won’t be any second-hand smoke to spread the death wish around. Real interesting how that works. I’m not an advocate of suicide but if that’s your choice, it’s nice to not consider taking anyone along for that Last Great Ride.
Apparently they’re legal and a lot cheaper than the real thing, especially now that at least Washington State seems bent on taxing "the real thing" into a price range shared with several totally illegal drugs.
Well, under the category of “Happy Irony,” looks like loggers and mill workers in the Northwest are really going green and getting paid for it. According to the New York Times Weekender,
Some mills that once sought the oldest, tallest evergreens are now producing alternative energy from wood byproducts like bark or brush. Unemployed loggers are looking for work thinning federal forests, a task for which the stimulus package devotes $500 million; the goal is to make forests more resistant to wildfires and disease. Some local officials are betting there is revenue in a forest resource that few appreciated before: the ability of trees to absorb carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that can contribute to global warming.
The U.S. Agriculture Department’s country-of-origin labeling program (COOL), went into total effect last month. It doesn’t include the ingredients in processed food but what it does mean is that if you’d like to support your local food producers even though it might mean paying a little extra, you can buy avocados that were raised in California rather than Mexico.
On the other hand, if you’re a fan of bacon from north of the American border, you can preserve your international culinary integrity now just by reading the package. I imagine that’s going to come as great news to millions of pigs the length and breadth of Canada.
In a continuing effort to reduce the size of The Bastion on the (Puget) Sound's carbon footprint, I came across a free (and Northstar tested) download which, according to PC World, “calculates your carbon footprint” by entering in “data to figure CO2 generated from activities including transportation, energy, trash or waste, recreation, purchasing habits, food, and more. Learn where you can go green by calculating your carbon footprint and then focusing on areas where you can make the most positive impact on the environment.” You can download it yourself by going here.
And to help with the internal environment, in terms of weighing enough to be healthy, I found a Body Mass Index calculator download which gives a range rather than a single ideal standard. I’m not just recommending this to people who might be packing a little too much, either.
Personally, I’m at the other end so this is good for thin people who have a tendency to skip meals and risk a variety of conditions that are just as potentially lethal as those associated with obesity. You can check that BMI calculator out here.
On that same download page is a Food Additives dictionary which indexes additives. When you click on one, it lets you know what the health risk is and other things I found pretty useful.
Until next time, then, take care, stay well and God Bless. And thanks again for the ear.
I personally suspect that April Fools Day is another manufactured holiday invented by and lobbied into existence jointly by companies who manufacture whoopee cushions and handshake buzzers and by the Benevolent Society of Sadists and Masochists.
Speaking of dumb things, someone please explain to me the logic behind an electronic cigarette. It’s advertised as “cancer free” and while the user still inhales nicotine (which is not a direct carcinogenic), what’s exhaled is harmless water vapor. Nicotine itself, however, is still a major health risk and a contributor to the growth and spread of cancer, according to Columbia Encyclopedia.
I guess that means that if you want to slowly and publicly continue to shorten your life, at least there won’t be any second-hand smoke to spread the death wish around. Real interesting how that works. I’m not an advocate of suicide but if that’s your choice, it’s nice to not consider taking anyone along for that Last Great Ride.
Apparently they’re legal and a lot cheaper than the real thing, especially now that at least Washington State seems bent on taxing "the real thing" into a price range shared with several totally illegal drugs.
Well, under the category of “Happy Irony,” looks like loggers and mill workers in the Northwest are really going green and getting paid for it. According to the New York Times Weekender,
Some mills that once sought the oldest, tallest evergreens are now producing alternative energy from wood byproducts like bark or brush. Unemployed loggers are looking for work thinning federal forests, a task for which the stimulus package devotes $500 million; the goal is to make forests more resistant to wildfires and disease. Some local officials are betting there is revenue in a forest resource that few appreciated before: the ability of trees to absorb carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that can contribute to global warming.
The U.S. Agriculture Department’s country-of-origin labeling program (COOL), went into total effect last month. It doesn’t include the ingredients in processed food but what it does mean is that if you’d like to support your local food producers even though it might mean paying a little extra, you can buy avocados that were raised in California rather than Mexico.
On the other hand, if you’re a fan of bacon from north of the American border, you can preserve your international culinary integrity now just by reading the package. I imagine that’s going to come as great news to millions of pigs the length and breadth of Canada.
In a continuing effort to reduce the size of The Bastion on the (Puget) Sound's carbon footprint, I came across a free (and Northstar tested) download which, according to PC World, “calculates your carbon footprint” by entering in “data to figure CO2 generated from activities including transportation, energy, trash or waste, recreation, purchasing habits, food, and more. Learn where you can go green by calculating your carbon footprint and then focusing on areas where you can make the most positive impact on the environment.” You can download it yourself by going here.
And to help with the internal environment, in terms of weighing enough to be healthy, I found a Body Mass Index calculator download which gives a range rather than a single ideal standard. I’m not just recommending this to people who might be packing a little too much, either.
Personally, I’m at the other end so this is good for thin people who have a tendency to skip meals and risk a variety of conditions that are just as potentially lethal as those associated with obesity. You can check that BMI calculator out here.
On that same download page is a Food Additives dictionary which indexes additives. When you click on one, it lets you know what the health risk is and other things I found pretty useful.
Until next time, then, take care, stay well and God Bless. And thanks again for the ear.
Rusty
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