“National Parks: America’s Best Idea’ documentary starts tonight
If you’ve seen ‘The Civil War,’ ‘Jazz’ or ‘Baseball,’ then you’re already familiar with the work of documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
His latest work, ‘The National Parks: America’s Best Idea’ premiers tonight at 8 p.m. on most PBS stations.
All of Burns’ movies are thoroughly researched, beautifully narrated and filled with interesting tid-bits.
We’re really looking forward to it.
Check out this trailer. The introductory footage is a bit long, although it’s undoubtedly beautiful. Narration starts at around one minute in.
Add comment September 27, 2009
BFF – the orangutan and the hound
This is a must see.
How AWESOME are animals?
And of course when you see bonding like this between species, you always wonder why humans can’t all just get along, like the man said.
Add comment September 26, 2009
This is recycling? Europe and America are dumping trash abroad
If you saw the recent 60 Minutes episode about the illegal exporting of trash to Asia and Africa for “recycling,” you might think this is only a problem in the United States. Basically, tougher laws governing recycling and trash disposal of hazardous materials have led to a kind of black market trade in waste.
Computers, television monitors and cell phones are often gathered up, placed into cargo containers, misleadlingly labeled and sent overseas for “recycling.” Once at the destination, it is often an open question whether any of the alleged recycling every happens.
And often, when recycling does happen, the conditions are extremely hazardous to the employees of the facility and the adjacent environment. For example, toxic plastics are burned to remove gold and silver used in the composition of computer parts. The health effects on workers, often low paid children, are horrendous.
Today’s New York Times features an article about similar practices in Europe. Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, has now become the “trash chute” of Europe. From Rotterdam, mislabeled cargo containers are now shipping trash off to developing countries. Often times, the trash simply sits and rots.
The reason for this trafficking? Europe’s tough new laws governing the disposal and recycling of waste have created incentives for polluters to ship the trash off-shore. The costs of recycling and proper disposal of hazardous materials and trash are higher in Europe.
Once again, it’s a case of good intentions without proper regulation and enforcement. Ideas that sound good on paper don’t always work out that way in the real world.
We of course support efforts to clean up the environment. But we also think we all need to “think globally” about our efforts.
It’s a great feeling when you sort your garbage and try to act responsibly when it comes to disposal of computers, cell phones and other electronics. But it’s extremely disheartening when you discover that entire villages in places you’ve never heard of are being poisoned and sickened by performing the recycling you’re supporting.
Add comment September 26, 2009
Russia has its first high-speed train. Where’s ours?
Russia has arrived in the high-speed club that includes Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Spain, Taiwan, Korea and China, which joined in 2007.
Siemens, the German conglomerate, has designed the high-speed trains and adapted them for Russian winters. This December, high-speed service will start between St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Siemens is one of four companies, none of them American, with capacity to build high-speed rail. All four companies have an eye on America, with hopes that they will benefit from the $13 billion high-speed rail program included in the economic stimulus passed by Congress in April.
I live in Las Vegas now, but I lived in California for 16 years. I always thought that there should be a high-speed circle line, running from LA to San Francisco, over to Sacramento, across the Sierra to Reno, down to Vegas and back to LA. They could add a spur to San Diego later, and add spokes to the circle at some time in the future.
Part of the problem with high-speed rail has always been the distances. In a country as large as ours, it’s always been hard to see how high-speed rail could ever compete with flight. High-speed trains travel at about half the speed of jets.
But here’s something to ponder: The new high-speed 401-mile trip from downtown Moscow to downtown St. Petersburg will be 3 hours and 45 minutes. The average flying travel time is five hours, including the trips to and from the airport, check-in and security clearance. So travel by train is actually faster.
In other countries, high-speed trains have roundly beaten planes on price, overall travel time and convenience at ranges up to 600 miles between major cities. After high-speed trains between Paris and Lyons became well established, for example, commercial flights all but disappeared. And in the first year of operation, a Madrid-to-Barcelona high-speed link cut the air travel market about 50 percent.
I’d love to be able to hop a train for a ski trip to Reno/Tahoe or a visit to friends in LA or San Diego. Especially if it was faster and cheaper than flying or driving.
Add comment September 25, 2009
Butterfly “GPS” found in antenna
My sister and brother-in-law attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. I remember visiting them once during the migration season of the Monarch butterfly.
They took me to a grove of eucalyptus trees that was filled with Monarch butterflies gathering for their yearly trip to Mexico.
The sight was awe-inspiring. It was hard to imagine that creatures who seem so delicate could withstand the rigors of such a long trip. And of course you wonder how they navigate all that way.
Now researchers have discovered that North America’s Monarch butterflies use a 24-hour “clock” in their antennae to help navigate the 2,500 miles to overwinter in Mexico.
It has long been understood that the butterflies navigate according to the position of the sun. But the role of the insects’ antenna was never thought to be central to their navigation.
Instead, it has always been thought that the butterflies used a 24-hour clock in their brains in conjunction with their “Sun compass” when they migrated.
According to Dr. Steven Reppert, co-author of the UMass Medical School study, “I think the take home message is that this really emphasizes the importance of this appendage, the antenna of the butterfly.
“I think it’s becoming more and more clear that the antennae have a number of functions that are independent from being odor detectors. They can function as ears, sensing sound and changes in barometric pressure, and now we can add to the list this function as a timepiece.”
The paper also suggests that other insects such as foraging honeybees and ants may use their antennae in a similar way.
The sad part about the study is that the researchers painted some of the butterflies’ antenna with black enamel paint to block the effects of the sun. The butterflies whose antennae were “blocked” all flew as a group in the wrong direction.
So now we know that for all intents and purposes, the antenna is critical to the life of the butterfly. But it seems almost like performing a lobotomy in order to prove that the brain matters.
Add comment September 25, 2009
Happy Birthday to “The Wizard of Oz”
Today, the most beloved movie of all time is turning 70.
New York City is extending big birthday wishes: the Empire State Building will glow green tonight to honor the classic.
Interestingly, Iranian President Ahmadenijad is in New York for the UN General Assembly. Green is the color chosen by the Iranian protest movement.
While the Empire State Building planned to glow green in honor of the Wizard of Oz, Iranian activists view the lighting as more than mere coincidence, but fate.
“The universe is smiling and the stars are aligned!” wrote a blogger named Anonymous Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal. “I’m so happy I could cry!”
Call it coincidence or call it fate, it just underscores for us that the Wizard of Oz is much, much more than a movie.
Happy, Happy Birthday, thanks for the memories, and you sure are one whiz of a wiz!
Add comment September 24, 2009
In the USA, you’re never more than 107 miles from McDonald’s
Here’s a really interesting map.
The point is that in the continental United States, you’re never more than 107 miles from a McDonald’s as the crow flies, or 145 miles by car.
We would love to see a similar map.
Except this map would show how far you are from fresh, wholesome food based on natural ingredients. Food that is prepared to maintain flavor and nutrition.
Then we would like to see the same kind of map.
But this one would show how far your pet is from the same kind of wholesome, nutritious and delicious products that maintain natural, vibrant health.
Products that are not made with genetically modified organisms. Pesticide free. No antibiotics or growth hormones.
The maps we would like to see would be a lot more sparse. But there are more and more companies like ours, each one adding a few points of light to the map.
Add comment September 24, 2009
Amateur archaeologist strikes pay dirt in England
We know this doesn’t have much to do with dogs (except that ours sometimes dig up the oddest things and bring them inside to show off).
But who doesn’t love a story about discovering a trove of hidden gold and silver?
Terry Herbert, 55, from the Staffordshire region of the United Kingdom, has always dreamed of unearthing something big. And his dreams came true when he took his metal detector to fields near his home that belong to a friend.
Mr. Herbert’s efforts led him to the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found. More than 1,500 items include helmets, sword pommels and sword hilt ornaments.
Professional archaeologists believe the booty was possibly looted on the field of battle 1,400 years ago by a victorious warlord.
Dr. Michael Lewis, of the British Museum’s Department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure, said that some of the items in the Staffordshire Hoard were unique and could not be compared to any earlier find in order to ascribe a value.
Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum’s Department of Prehistory and Europe, added that the importance of the find couldn’t be overstated. “[It is] absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells,” he said.
But for Mr. Herbert, the experience has been priceless.
“I have this phrase that I say sometimes: ’Spirits of yesteryear take me where the coins appear’, but on that day I changed coins to gold,” he said.
“I don’t know why I said it that day, but I think somebody was listening and directed me to it. Maybe it was meant to be, maybe the gold had my name on it all along, I don’t know.”
Follow up, August 25, 2009:
Crowds of people are lining up to check out selected treasure on display at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in the UK. See what they have to say.
Add comment September 24, 2009
Dog waste composting project raises environmental concerns
Green pioneers in Ithaca, New York, have succeeded in establishing a pilot program for dog waste composting at one of the city’s dog parks — part of the Allan H. Treman Marine State Park.
The park now supplies corn-based bags. Dog waste is gathered in the bags and thrown into large bins at the park’s entrance. Once a week, the waste is removed, taken to an off-site composting facility, mixed with yard and wood waste, and then it sits.
The problem is that no one has yet figured out exactly what it might be good for. Possibilities include landscaping, potted plants or blending with topsoil.
And that all sounds really great. But here’s the catch:
In the same online edition of the New York Times that carries this story, there is horrifying video coverage about the problem of contamination of ground water caused by the use of dairy waste as fertilizer.
The video chronicles the lives of people who live near large dairy operations in Idaho. Manure from the dairies is held in lagoons until it is pumped into trucks and spread onto fields as fertilizer. Tests of groundwater have shown levels of nitrates, pathogens and bacteria far exceeding acceptable levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
In addition, there are concerns about disease markers and antibiotics in the groundwater. In fact, one mother who lives near the dairies reports that she and her two teenage daughters all stopped menstruating when they were drinking their tap water. Within a month of going to distilled water, they all began menstruating again. So this is serious.
To us, this raises concerns not just about the regulation of the dairy industry in Idaho. It also raises questions about composting projects like the one in the Ithaca dog park. Both involve the recycling and reuse of animal waste. And both are based on evidence that animal waste makes good fertilizer. The question, however, is how do we treat the animal waste to ensure that it not only makes good fertilizer, but that it is also safe and harmless for the groundwater it affects?
We don’t want to put a damper on efforts to go green. And in fact there’s plenty of groundwater contamination from conventional dumps. Surely there is a solution to this problem. We just don’t know the answer. So we’re wondering, do any of you?
1 comment September 18, 2009
Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary has died
Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul and Mary fame, has died from complications caused by chemotherapy associated with a bone-marrow transplant she had several years ago after developing leukemia.
Everyone remembers Puff the Magic Dragon, Leavin’ on a Jet Plane, If I Had a Hammer, and Blowin’ in the Wind. The trio was known for their beautiful three-part harmonies and more commercially available sound than many of the other folk-inspired artists of the 1960s.
Their sound may have been commercial and safe, but early on their politics were somewhat risky for a group courting a mass audience. Like her bandmates, Ms. Travers was outspoken in her support for the civil-rights and antiwar movements, in sharp contrast to clean-cut folk groups like the Kingston Trio, which avoided making political statements.
Peter, Paul and Mary went on to perform at the 1963 March on Washington and joined the voting-rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in 1965.
Mary Travers always felt that her music connected her and her audience to something larger. As she once put it to the New York Times, “I was raised to believe that everybody has a responsibility to their community and I use the word very loosely. It’s a big community. If I get recognized in the middle of the Sinai Desert I have a big community.”
Mary Travers was 72.
Add comment September 17, 2009
