By Chrissy the Hyphenated
Click graphic to embiggen.
CSB @ http://news.webshots.com/photo/2241221250056011884whaFep
I have a bit of a crush on Dubya. And I really loved his mom when she was First Lady. But I gotta say … Barbara’s snarky comment about how Palin should stay in Alaska and now what I hear Rove has said about our Sarah has shoved a very annoying splinter into my brain.
Another, related brain splinter came from reading some vaguely remembered article about some powerful New York State Republican politician whose name didn’t stick with me. What did stick was the evidence cited that he had all along been hand-in-glove with his powerful Democrat cronies in Albany, that they’d been banded together for years, trading favors and skimming pork for themselves.
I’m not much for conspiracy theories, but this one had a lot of factual support and it rang true to what I know about human nature. I can totally believe that entitled, powerful people could meet in back rooms to decide whose turn it was to win the next election, that their loyalty to their own clique and its hold on the power and the money was way more important to them than honestly representing the voters.
I like nice people, but I’m much more interested in honest people. So while I held long and hard to my Mushy Middle “can’t we all get along, hands-across-the-aisle” fantasy, I was not about to stick with it if these bipartisan types were actually just lying, power-mongering, pond scum.
Let’s just say I grew a bit of a jaundiced eye. Yet I really couldn’t go so far as to cynically reject all the great ideals upon which our nation was founded. My hubby was a building contractor and he wasn’t a crook; my kids are in the military and they don’t torture people; surely there are politicians who believe in Truth, Justice and the American Way.
I think my feelings are far from unique and that they are a lot of what is fueling the amazing Tea Party movement. I know fershure that they are fueling my refudiation of RINO-ism and bipartisan blah blah.
On another semi-related subject – i.e., the feds evil “You Shalt Use Toxic Lightbulbs Because Our Cronies Have Stock in the Companies That Make Them” law … get a load of the mega plug I got at One of Nine for my bulb blog earlier this week:
http://oneofnine.info/node/557
Included in the One of Nine post are several excellent links to info about CFLs and the Better Use of Light Bulbs Act.
Also this nugget from the UK Telegraph:
Fears have been reignited about the safety of energy saving light bulbs after a group of scientists warned that they contain cancer causing chemicals.
Their report advises that the bulbs should not be left on for extended periods, particularly near someone’s head, as they emit poisonous materials when switched on.
Peter Braun, who carried out the tests at the Berlin’s Alab Laboratory, said: “For such carcinogenic substances it is important they are kept as far away as possible from the human environment.”
The bulbs are already widely used in the UK following EU direction to phase out traditional incandescent lighting by the end of this year.
I was raised by a woman who went through the Depression the hard way. I learned much supposedly “modern” and “green” wisdom early at, as my brother says, “our mother’s knee and other joints.”
“Waste not, want not.”
“Use your head and save your feet.”
One of my favorites is on supposedly irresistible sales:
“I don’t care if it’s 99% off. If you don’t want it or need it, then it’s a waste of money.”
We now have free, street-side pick-up of recyclables, but I was recycling way back in the early 70s when we had to take it all to a recycling center and sort it ourselves.
So trust me. I didn’t need to have the feds force me to buy energy saving bulbs. I tried them long, long ago. Then I got rid of them, because when they were on, they emitted an odor that made me physically ill.
It’s enormously gratifying to have these scientists confirm what my body told me years ago. CFLs are bad news.
I still have a really expensive work lamp hanging over my head that I thought would be such a great idea … except it only takes CF bulbs, so it just hangs there, empty. I suppose I should get a Round Tuit to throw it out one of these days. It was just so danged expensive and I barely used it.
Anyone want a fancy, schmancy, almost new light fixture that only takes toxic bulbs? Nah. I didn’t think so.
polination.blog 