See Hear Speak No Evil

this entire article came from ENN… see more here
‘Tis the season to give, celebrate and renew. It only takes a small commitment to protect the environment. Here are eight simple ways you can make a difference this holiday season:
1. Rethink the Gift Wrap
It’s time to think outside the box, for real. Not only are most wrapping types wasteful, but its been done, year after year. Break out of your comfort zone and create some great looks with reuse items found around your house.

* Bows
* Bags
* Fabrics
* Newspaper comics
* Magazines
* Decorative boxes

These scrap items can be used to make that gift even more special. They can also be reused year after year.

2. Keep the Trees Truly Green
If part of your celebrations include a Christmas tree, choose to recycle it once the festivities are over, find local treecycling centers through Earth911.

If you want to recycle your tree, do not use tinsel or spray it with fake snow, as tinsel and white trees cannot be recycled. You can also use a live, uncut tree and replant it after the holidays or just decorate a house plant or tree in your yard.

3. Hang up your Cheer
Though ornaments have traditionally been used with Christmas trees, they can be hung from any place in the house. String them with lights to dress up a window or hang them outside. Either way you approach it, ornaments are a great craft and reuse project.

Make ornaments at home with items you may normally recycle:

1. Paper towel rolls
2. Old calendar pictures
3. Holiday wrapping paper

If you have any left over ornaments from holidays past, donate them to your local thrift store or pass them on to family and friends.

4. Keep Energy Low & Excitement High
It is easy to let energy get the best of you during the holiday months, but you can fight back with some easy ways to keep the bills down. Use a timer on your house and tree lights to avoid keeping them on all night, cuddle up next to a fire burning an eco-friendly log and keep your water heater warm with insulation.

5. Just Call
Some of the best holiday greetings don’t come in the form of paper. Forget that card and pick up the phone. It is pretty likely that most of your family and friends would prefer some real talk time over words in a card.

If sending cards is part of a die-hard tradition, save old holiday cards and create new ones by cutting the card down. Old cards also make great ornaments or can even get laminated for coasters. You could also send e-cards and save paper, or you can buy new cards made with post-consumer content.

6. Celebrate in Style
Holiday parties are some of the best times to see friends, share gifts and eat a lot of food. Instead of opting for paper and plastic, use dishes, silverware and cloth napkins instead of disposable utensils and paper products.

Don’t have enough reusable plates for everyone? No problem! Make it BYOP, and have everyone bring their own plates, forks and cups. You can even make a game out of it and have people trade with each other. In addition, give out leftovers so you won’t waste food. Plus, your guests already brought their own to-go containers!

7. Shop Smart
This holiday shopping season may be tighter than years past, so it’s time to get strategic. Many online retailers not only offer free shipping, but by getting it directly delivered to you, your car can stay parked in your driveway. If you do venture out to the mall, plan a trip with friends to carpool and save resources, and try to consolidate your shopping trips into as few as possible.

8. Resolve That Resolution
Though New Year’s is still a ways off, now is a great time to begin planning your changes for 2009. Want to buck that plastic habit, get that commute to be a group affair or increase your recycling efforts? The new year is a national time where change is praised and encouraged. Do some research, and start the new year off with a plan. Hold onto your hat 2009, here we come!

Last night when I checked my email I had received 13 messages from my husband’s aunt. I am mad because these emails were very hateful and were the bullshit emails spewing crap about Obama.

Here is basically the subject line from the emails I received…

*Community group named Acorn.
*How Obama supports Kenya.
*Huge gap in Obama financials.
*Second American Revolution.
*Muslim terrorist.
*Secret foreign money flooding Obama’s campaign.
*Then again… Secret foreign money flooding Obama’s campaign.
*Obama to explain why he doesn’t follow protocol when the National Anthem is played.
*Fannie Mae CEO calling Obama and the Dems the “Family” and “Conscience” of Fannie Mae.
*On or about October 5th, Biden will excuse himself from the ticket, citing health problems, and he will be replaced by Hillary. This is timed to occur after the VP debate on 10/2.
*Video with the Star Spangled Banner.
*Jay Leno saying we need to blame the media for people hating George Bush.
*Sarah Palin can be entrusted with our national security, because she already is.
*Pictures of Muslims marching through the streets of London.

I sent back and email to her that said,

“Will you please take me off of your email list that you send political or religious emails to? I would appreciate it.

As a registered Democrat I will be voting for Obama. The amount of hurtful propaganda certain people are circulating through email is ridiculous.”

Have you received these emails? Are you mad? I hate spam emails in the first place. Even if I was voting for McCain I would be mad about these emails.

This week I have actually heard these two comments…

“I hope (insert name here) votes for McCain. You know if Obama becomes president we will lose our guns.” This was said by an older gentleman working at a Cal Ranch store.

“I can’t believe you would vote for Obama. He is a Muslim.” This was said by someone who I am related to.

First of all, the Democrats can’t get rid of guns. They can pass legistlation to make it harder to get guns, but they can’t take your guns away. You know… the right to bear arms and all? They can’t take guns away unless they could ammend the Constitution and that is HARD. Secondly, I am very embarassed that someone I am related to actually fell for the propoganda and slander. /sigh

ok, so i did something today i’ve NEVER DONE BEFORE. i got an email from jasonthe, who is 1/2 of thesidetrack, asking for contributions for morgan bowen. i didn’t even really think about it, i just clicked the website and donated. ask jason, he’ll tell you i was hesitant about morgan at first, but after reading this, i’m voting for him in november.

i’ve copied and pasted from jason’s email below. you don’t have to be rich to contribute - i’m proof. i gave ten bucks.

**
The Challenge: 100 Donors in 48 Hours.

The Cause:
Yesterday Morgan Bowen (Democratic challenger to Republican Rob “Invisible Congresman” Bishop) issued a statement on the recent house FISA bill and the issue of granting retro-active immunity to law-breaking telecommunications companies, affirming the notion that were he a member of Utah’s federal congressional delegation, he would not have voted to grant immunity or support the warrant-less wiretapping of Americans.

Morgan is fighting an uphill battle against Republican Rob Bishop in the first district, and his stance on this issue sets him apart not only from our current representatives (including Democrat Jim Matheson, UT-2) - who have repeatedly defended the “break the law now, we’ll make it legal later” precedent this bill creates in defense of AT&T and Verizon - but it also distinguishes him from every other candidate running in Utah this cycle.

It was a bold move in defense of our Constitution that is not without it’s political risks. And now we have an opportunity to send a firm thank you message to a candidate who is showing, among so many afraid to do so, that real leadership is an asset, not a liability.

Our goal here is modest: 100 Donors in 48 Hours (any any donation amount is helpful, so if $10 is all your budget allows - like mine - that helps too). Make time today to visit Morgan’s ActBlue page and give encouragement for his raising of the bar by defending our right to privacy. After you make your donation, please forward this email to family, friends, co-workers and colleagues who may be up for the challenge of helping us hit this goal.

Learn more about Morgan at www.bowenforcongress.com
More on FISA at FISA Fact Check (http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/34258prs20080229.html)
And Morgan on ActBlue: http://www.actblue.com/page/morganbowen

Thank You! –
Jason
**

i normally don’t do this…but morgan is worth checking out. consider donating to his campaign today. and morgan, i need those lawn signs!!!

is a fucking lot! The National Priorities Program has a great website that illustrates just this point. You can look at the cost to your county, your congressional district, you entire state. And you can find out what that translates to in monies taken away from (or just not used for) social programs that are crucial to keeping the citizens of our great nation healthy and educated.

When I see the amount of money we, as taxpayers, are spending on this war, I get sick. Physically ill. My stomach churns, my head begins to ache, and my eyes pop right out of my head (and would fall onto the table if they didn’t hit my eyeglasses first). I don’t support this war (yet I FULLY support those fighting it) and, in theory, would love it if my tax dollars were spent on other programs. However, this is not something I am able to dictate and would have to quit my job and find a job where my pay was so low that (I was in need of the social programs I wish my tax dollars supported) I didn’t have to pay taxes. I am unwilling to do this. So, I utilize my first ammendment right to speak out against a war I don’t support while allowing my tax dollars to pay for said war. I wish this wasn’t the case. I wish those fighting were not in harm’s way. I wish that they were home with their families and loved ones and that the Iraqi and Afghani people were not continuously worried about their safety and security. But most of all I wish that we could find a way to back ourselves out of this quagmire without letting chaos and anarchy rule the day in the countries we are engaged in.

I’m not sure this dream will be realized and I don’t have any ideas on how it can be accomplished. That’s what military analysts and career military personnel are paid to do. I just hope it can be done.

I just came across this post over at Ancora Imparo about how one goes about making the right choices when purchasing fish. And by ‘right’ I mean purchasing fish from that are either fished in a sustainable manner (think Alaskan salmon or Maine lobster) or farmed in a sustainable and enviro-friendly way.

I have actually used the card before (when I ate fish, that is) and found it very information and useful. Really, it made me think about what I was going to buy. This translated into scruitinizing all of my food purchases and taking the time to consider the where’s and how’s of my food choice impacts on the greater global community.

For example, I will choose an apple grown with pesticides in NM or CO or even WA over an apple grown without pesticides in Chile. One must take into account the transportation cost and petroleum used to get that organic apple from Chile to my local store in Albuquerque. I do know that I have the option to spend 10 minutes at the grocery store contemplating these issues, while many others do not. However, it only takes a few seconds to consider the location where your food is produced and begin to make decisions based on the ideas you come up with. It really boils down to what is important for you and where you can make small personal changes that make a global impact.

As this blog says, when you start asking questions about where and how, the suppliers start to wake up and realize they have to change their practices or business is lost.

**author’s note** this post is being composed from my phone…so it may have title case (that’s proper capitalization for those of you who don’t know what title case is…) and may be shorter than I intend due to tapping this out from a moto q.

how great is our country?

today, more than ever, it seems that every time we turn on the news, log on to internet or flip open a newspaper, we are bombarded with bad news…usually about how shitty america is - the environment is hopeless, gas prices are skyrocketing, someone dumped live puppies in a dumpster to die, president bush is an idiot, jobs are being lost, our kids are overweight, immigrants are taking over, we are in a recession and on and on and on.

with all this bad news, I think it’s difficult to find happiness in your own life without feeling guilt.

i’m surrounded by good things. I take time every day to bask in the things I love the most: my family, my friends, the dogs, a good book, my fave trashy reality tv series, over-priced hair product, the jeans that fit the best, my morning coffee, the way my husband smells after he shaves, and my squishy down pillow at the end of the day.

the trouble is the good stuff isn’t newsworthy. does no one WANT to read good news?

how great is our country?

recent news of the protests against the olympic torch running has me riled up a bit. I fully support the right of others to protest. what I don’t support - and never will - is the use of violence to protest violence. it’s wrong. for example, killing doctors and nurses at an abortion clinic because abortion is murder. can anyone explain that one to me?

I understand where the protesters are coming from…and if they can keep the protest non-violent, I can support their cause. but I also support the carrying of the torch for a worldwide event that should be a uniting force for every country on the planet, regardless of whether we agree with their form of government. the olympics is about competition and the athletes - some of whom get a one-in-a-lifetime shot to compete.

I voice my concern because a large group of people can suffer from mob mentality where normal people do things they would never do on their own.

protest away - but be proper. don’t ever lose sight of humanity and common decency.

how great is our country?

I don’t have all the answers. many of our politicians say things they think we want to hear. the presidential election gets all the news, but the most important issues aren’t in DC (unless you live there). they are right here in front of us. in our local communities…in our school district…in our city council and in our state government. your vote for mayor or city council is far more relevant to you than your vote for obama or mccain in november.

how great is our country?

I love it here. I choose to bloom where i’m planted.

now can it warm up already?!?!?!

Ok, so I’m currently on a roll with this blogging about being more sustainable and friendly to our ole’ Mama Earth (yeah, I call 2 posts in a row “a roll”).

First, I’d like, no LOVE to congratulate you for kicking my ass and taking names at the PC quiz. You rock, readers.

Today, I calculated my carbon footprint. I’ve used a variety of different websites to do this before and each of them calculate your footprint differently. I’ve seen some that will tell you how many planets we would need if everyone on the planet lived the same way I did (if I remember correctly, it was approximately 4.3 planets if you live your life like I do).

The one I took today calculated the amount of carbon I use per year and gives me the option to purchase offsets (I’d like to note hear that you can purchase offsets for vacations/flights on both Travelocity and Orbitz. Also, if when purchasing a ticket via the Delta website, you have the option to buy offsets for your flight there as well and it’s CHEAP! $12 for an international flight.)

Anywho- so I came across this website today where I calculated my carbon tonnage (and it’s from the UK, bitches, so they say ‘tonnes.’) It seems that I’m not doing as bad as I thought but am no where near where I’d like to be.

How am I best going to change this, readers? I commute via bicycle to work at least 2 times a week (when I’m actually in the office and not in the field). But when not commuting via bicycle, I drive my car instead of taking the bus.

If my new goal for the month is to take the bus at least 1 time per week, again when in the office, is this going to make me feel better while decreasing the amount of carbon I put into the atmosphere? Probably. I just have to get it into my head and DO IT. It’s the same when I bike. I have to tell myself before I go to bed and when I’m waking up that I’m going to bike that day and, in doing so, force myself into it.

Alternatively, I should be able to carpool to work. There are 2 other people that live within a mile of me. There’s no reason that we all should be driving separately. It’s ludicrous.

I’m also gearing up to join a CSA (community supported agriculture), basically a local farm, in the area that not only grows and distributes organic and locally grown food but help other farmers in the northern New Mexico area sell their produce as well. It means the amount of carbon used to get my food to me is decreased and my footprint lessened.

Any other ideas?