Posts Tagged ‘ecology’

Not a Drop to Drink

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Folks–
In my mind it’s usually best to try to avert disaster before it strikes, and “take what you need and leave the rest” has always felt good.

In light of the coming water crisis, which actually already is worldwide, I thought of some things I want to do. YMMV.

Even if you do have a low-flow toilet, keep flushing to a minimum. No details, but it really is OK to flush more during asparagus season.

Shower less. B.O. may soon become chic. I usually shower every two to three days (why I have no friends and nobody sits next to me on BART), and don’t really wash my hair that often and it still looks pretty good.

Of course: don’t leave water running when washing faces, washing dishes, shaving, lathering up or waiting for hair conditioner to work. This is harder to do than I would have thought. I intend to do better myself.

You remember those pitchers and wash-stands (often seen in the rooms over the saloon in a western)? I really wish I’d saved one from my great-aunt’s house in Ohio– they bathed weekly, but stayed fresh and clean with PTA baths (pits, tits and ass, if you must).

Try to kiss your grass goodbye. We have a dear friend in Palm Desert, of all places, who will be fined for not watering her lawn. What’s up with that? There are some amazing sericulture lawns even here in provincial El Cerrito. Most of our outdoor plants are succulent (no, we don’t EAT them!). The rest are soak-watered in the evening. We try to put used cooking water on the plants, but forget at times.

Get more mileage out of your clothes. David *hates* it, but I only put stuff in the laundry if it stinks or has visible schmutz on it. And, no, cat and dog hair is NOT dirt; it’s decorative. Not so sure about dog slobber. Socks and underwear, though– wash after one wear, go barefoot or regimental.

Damn, I really wish low usage would gain water credits. Too, I realize that this is totally un-American. And, really, golf should be banned in dry areas. To hell with Phoenix, Scottsdale and Palm Springs. Read a book, learn to knit, have more sex, ride a bike… again, YMMV. Just try to keep it all good ’til the last drop.

Peace, love, Woodstock Nation,
Bill

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Posted in Economy, General, Learning, Politics, ecology | 1 Comment »

Population Bomb

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

Oh, mercy!
Everybody with any sense, and even some severely lacking are suddenly jumping onto the Great Green Bandwagon. That’s really great now, isn’t it? Who cares if it’s maybe too late! It’s cool! Buy a hybrid, take your own bags to the store, drive less or use public transit (at least until the price of gas goes down and we can forget again).

I HATE to tell you, but there’s a big, fat stinking elephant in the room. It’s name is US! Yes– I’ve only been alive since 1955, and by how many times has the earth’s population multiplied? When was _The Population Bomb_ written? How long have we had birth control? How many superstitious fools, especially educated ones in the US, the Catholics and Mormons, are still fucking like yard dogs and trying to fill up every nook and cranny on earth? We even have a [my opinion] selfiish and deranged woman in Los Angeles, a single mother even, who now has 14 children at the age of 33! Oh, I suppose I must be nice and charitable, but all of these selfish pseudo-rabbits, IMO, DO NOT have the right to blatantly try to exhaust every last resource on earth.

In short: in all of the Green talk lately that I’ve noticed in mainstream media, there has NOT, IIRC, been one single mention of the obvious– there are too damn many of us. Maybe homosexuality IS evolution’s last and best desperate attempt to save an inhabitable planet for the future.

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Posted in Economy, General, Politics, Queer | No Comments »

EVOLUTION #1

Monday, January 26th, 2009

First, I am NOT an academic and this is not meant to be scholarly. I just like to think about things. Some of those things: I’d love to know more about plant evolution, as most of what gets attention in popular press involves animals, Darwin, etc.; I’d also love to know more about parallels between plant and animal evolution, given that there are so many interdependent relationships among and between plants and animals; how does one define “crown of creation”, i.e., “most advanced life form”?

I’ve recently read in National Geographic about recent concepts in evolution in which the interaction between genes and the environment is mediated by proteins that regulate gene expression. It’s fascinating that the exact same gene exists and is expressed in a variety of ways among many species. I wonder how many genes even lie dormant in people? And what biases about what constitutes a different “animal” species are anthropocentric? After all, two snakes may look practically identical and be considered different species, while a Bantu and an Eskimo are just varieties of the same species.

I have ruled out Creationism and Determinism in my consideration of the ongoing development and adaptation of beings on the earth. Just doesn’t cut it, both being, IMO, lazy intellectual shortcuts at best. Still, there are many things going on beyond traditional structural taxonomy, and Mendelian genetics. Back in 1977, when I was somewhat studying biochemistry, there was great excitement over proteins called “histones” that decorated and were somehow interacting with the lovely double helix of DNA. Since then there’s been an explosion of knowledge about many other marvels: glycoproteins on cell membranes that turn genes off or on; mRNA; tRNA; rRNA mDNA; twin studies; etc.

So, I claim to be Sgt. Schultz; “I know nothing”. However, I will be excited and delighted to learn much more as things are revealed.

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Posted in General, Learning | 1 Comment »