8.08.2007

today's ramblings

Haven't had much time to post lately - fewer interns = more work for those of us still around - so today might be a fairly random conglomeration of thoughts.
  • Steelers win! I liked what I heard as far as the new playbook goes. (Couldn't watch, since our cable company doesn't provide the NFL Network. gah.)
  • The world seems to be falling apart. Mines, bridges...Here in Pennsylvania there was an uproar because PennDOT was not going to release safety records for our bridges. This isn't anywhere near complete, but http://www.rideonpa.org lists the "structurally deficient" bridges in the state. Roads, too. Interesting to look at.
  • Barry Bonds = a joke.

Even bigger joke? The fact that Bonds' juicing controversy is getting more analysis in the media than the Democrats' forum from last night. I'm ashamed, but I didn't watch the forum/debate last night. I wish I had. It sounds like it was a good one. (I'll brag about the fact that I didn't watch ESPN and still have not seen video of HR #756.)

The Democratic primary is already turning into a horse race, and that's unfortunate because the primaries are supposed to be when the party members decide whose ideas and positions we like best. I could not tell you anything about the positions of the second-tier candidates, because essentially they don't matter in a horse race. Quite frankly, I don't even think that the leaders' positions matter. All that matters is who is leading the polls. The leader determines who will get the media coverage, and whoever gets the most coverage will be the name that people remember. That leads to more people picking them in the polls...around and around it goes.

But, as some anchor on CNN said yesterday, if we picked our president based on polls in August or September, we'd be talking about President Howard Dean right now.

I just hope Dems come to their senses before Iowa/New Hampshire. Hillary won't win a national election.

8.01.2007

reducing my impact

I took the Live Earth pledge on 7.7.07. However, I'm ashamed to say that I haven't taken much action yet, especially on #2 - become carbon neutral.

But this morning as I was getting ready for work, I realized that it would be really easy for me to start. Take this list, for example - what I've done so far today that I could have done differently.
  • Lunch box - Every day (that I pack my lunch) I use a brown paper bag and throw it away when I'm finished eating. I know for a fact that a bunch of old school lunch boxes are around, so tomorrow I will use one of them instead of a paper bag.
  • Coffee mug - Every day (that I drink coffee at work [let's face it - that's every day]) I use a new styrofoam cup. No explanation needed. Tomorrow I will bring a mug to work.
  • Air conditioner - Every morning I wake up freezing because my air conditioner was on all night. Tonight I will turn the A/C off before I fall asleep.
  • Phantom power - My phone and computer chargers are both plugged in right now, not being used but sucking energy. I will unplug these chargers when I'm not using them.

Obviously there are tons of other things I can do. Those are biggies.

Kudos to Marriott and other hotel chains. Even though they're only changing this policy to save money, it will make the world a little greener.

More links:
http://www.mtv.com/thinkmtv/environment/
http://www.liveearth.org/crisis_solutions.php
http://www.tearfund.org/Campaigning/Climate+change+and+disasters/Pentathlon.html