A friend sent me this link today:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1153530,00.html

He then, very foolishly, asked me what I thought. Well, I think, therefore I blahg. For you lucky few who read, here are my random ramblings about the issue of our fate here on this earth ;)

Global warming has been of huge concern for years. The greenhouse effect has been causing sneaky little problems that are only beginning to raise serious fears ... this gradual warming of our atmosphere has been helping grow the hole in our ozone layer; the big buzz a few years ago was that CFC's (used as propellants in aerosol containers) were solely responsible, but not the case. The changing atmosphere also contributed to the slowly widening hole that could spell eventual doom for all of the inhabitants of earth except cockroaches, because nothing can kill them.

Yes, the warming of our atmosphere is a serious problem, even a few degrees has caused notable melting and the withdrawal of the polar & glacier ice flows ... there are several views on this, though. Some scientists have said that this is a normal trend, that the historic evidence supports this ebb and flow, and that we are currently in an ebb time, when the glaciers withdraw instead of advance. Nothing to fear.

(Scientists in Greenland who have been studying the glaciers for decades do not agree with the nothing to fear theory.)

Which brings us to the other camp --- these are the people who have been predicting massive flooding, widescale destruction from the greenhouse effect, total devastation from the ozone depletion ...

I don't know who to agree with ... both sides have evidence to support them. Instead, I will quote my geology professor from college: "we are involved in a massive experiment with our planet and no one knows what will happen"

The only thing that is predictable is that every action taken causes a reaction in some way.

Look at the attempts to farm what became the dust bowl in our Midwest. It used to be very fertile land, which was impetus for the settlers who flocked there. Unfortunately, what they didn't understand was that this land was anchored in place by the prairie grasses, which the would-be farmers removed so they could plant their seeds for crops.

It became all too evident that no one was going to be doing any farming on this land because the land itself got up and left in whirling, swirling dust clouds. Before long, the farmers packed up their few belongs and departed, driven out by unyielding famine, starvation and hardships. Did we learn from this? No. The same mistakes we made in the attempt to farm the dust bowl is being repeated in the devastation of the Rain Forests. They are clearing the forests at a rate of something ungodly like 10,000 acres a day ... for FARMLAND.

This is fertile soil, ONLY BECAUSE of the rapid growth and decay cycle that comes in a rain forest environment. When you remove that environment, you get exhausted soil that nothing will grow in. So what is the reaction to this action? The forced extinction of species both large and small. In 5 years, all Orangutans left in the wild will be completely extinct. They will only exist in captivity, and those few in captivity are so small, that at this rate, all Orangutans will be extinct in something like 20 years.

We are GREEDY and GRASPING, selfish and self-centered, this race who calls themselves human, and as such, considers themselves above all other living things.

Opposing thumbs do not a better being make! I can understand completely the desire of people like Jane Goodall who choose to live with animals instead of people. There is an unbelievable sense of frustration on the part of those who watch as we all contribute to the ruination of this glorious place called earth.

Do I think that the climate will cause our destruction? Perhaps. But, ultimately, whatever natural disaster hits, I think that WE will cause our destruction, and if it's the climate, it's because we changed it in our idiotic, uncontrolled experimentation within our very own planet.

No wonder Bush wants to move to Mars. We're about done ruining this planet, let's start over on a new one!

Do you ever wonder if your body works in conjunction with your coworkers?

I've got my vacation scheduled to begin on Wednesday and my coworkers are doing their damndest to make sure I don't go by dumping a month's worth of work on me two days before I leave! But leave, I will ... On Wednesday I will get on a plane and remain there for about 7 hours, before landing in glamorous Sin City, V E G A S !

However, in the meantime, I've managed to obtain a sinus situation ... I don't feel sick, just unbalanced. That is literally, not mentally. My head is spinning and anything I try to focus on jumps up and down in front of my face like the easter bunny on chocolate.

On the advice of the pharmacist I have begun a round the clock regimen of Sudafed (little cute red pills ... tiny enough for even me, the notorious pill gagger, to take without ugliness.) Hopefully this will be enough to kick the dizzies the hell out of here, because I'm GOING to Las Vegas, if I have to crawl onto that plane. That may make some of my fellow passengers a bit uneasy, but too bad. ;)

Do you ever find yourself counting things ... EVERY thing?

I eat food in even numbers. I don't just have one cookie, I have to have TWO cookies, perhaps even 4 on a PMS day ... especially if they have chocolate.

I watch my alarm clock until all of the bars that make up the numbers add up to 16.

I count light poles when I'm driving.
Oncoming cars.

I always stop on an even number.

I've never heard of anyone else who has this condition (I don't think RainMan counts) Does it have a name?

Did you know that there is such a thing as a tomato slicer?

Really, truly, honest to goodness!

I never would have believed it if I hadn't just seen it. I was looking at some All-Clad beauties, drooling over the items on Stevo & Peekay's bridal listing, when I was diverted into the wonderful world of all things All-Clad.

While looking at the many marvels of cooking gadgetry and gizmos, I saw something intriguing labeled "tomato slicer" ... and even though you might think it's just a knife, it's not! They added a curlicue doo-dad at the join between handle and serrated blade. The all-clad tomato slicer reminds me overwhelmingly of a cheese knife.

Do you think manufacturers have run out of new ways to invent the wheel, so they start relabeling things to entice us to re-buy items we already have? This kind of power could be dangerous in the wrong hands! I can imagine Hitler starting like this: it begins innocently enough, with the simple application of labels to differentiate between your interchangeable, non-discriminating, kitchen tools; however, in all too brief a time it becomes a full-blown prejudice, casting a stigma on those who use a normal kitchen knife (and we won't even talk about how bad it will be for those who don't at least use a name brand block set!) instead of the tomato slicer for their salad garnishes!

That said, I MUST have a tomato slicer of my very own...

Oh those demonic All-Clad people! ;D

I just saw the wacky Quiznos commercial again and it made me remember that I still don't know what the hell those things are ... chemically altered mice? radioactive kittens? Whatever they are, American Idol will not be calling. Although, when it says "they've got a PEHPAH BAHR!" I laugh like a fool. Haven't seen it yet? Go here:

http://www.quiznos.com/

I sent this link to people on my email list:

http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_1_the_illegal_alien.html

Not only did some of them yell at me because the article was too long, but several of them actually thought I was wasting their time by sending them "unimportant" clutter in their mailbox. That kind of stumped me. I was under the impression that things that happen in our country are of concern to us all because this is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people (it's called a Dem-ahhhh-cracy, boys and girls.) As such, everyone should be concerned with the issues that affect the way our country is run.

Sometimes I get to the point where I start to argue myself into a corner and I switch sides mid-stream; the issue of Immigration is one such case, as you will see if you continue...

After reading the article that I linked above, a friend of mine sent me the following question:

I read that article about Illegal Immigrants..I wonder if they don't just keep letting those degenerates in because they vote? Do they vote? I am not sure about that? I guess if they are illegal then they don't..but I cannot figure out why we keep letting them in ... are we that afraid of them? I never realized this was as big a problem as it is..

My responses follow (this is where you see my circular logic):

The first problem is whether we can legally deport them due to claims of asylum (ie, the "you can't send me back because they will kill me! You have to offer me shelter here!" defense.) We have a legal system that will represent anyone, no matter what they have done. This further slows matters, allowing illegals to stay here for years while their "case" is tied up in the legal red tape. Meanwhile, they are still living here, collecting welfare, foodstamps, holding down jobs, getting free medication/healthcare ... all courtesy of the taxpayers.

Unfortunately, nationality of the illegal also plays a big part, depending on the area of the country they are squatting in: If you are an illegal of hispanic background living in Texas, forget it, the authorities can't touch you. If you are cuban, living in Florida, same thing. If you are Saudi, living in New York, from the tone of the article, same thing again, they can't touch you.

Speaking of Florida, here is a case in point: A thriving group of people are living in Floriday, are naturalized citizens of the United States ... they chose to move here, adopt this country, make their living here (in a few cases in particular have done extremely well for themselves, too) have raised their families in the United States ... They brought their own culture, customs and beliefs with them when they moved here. Basically, they uprooted their whole neighborhood and replanted it on US soil. A classic melting pot situation, right? Wrong.

A melting pot implies that cultures mesh, joining to form a richer people with a greater diversity. Instead, we have an ethnocentric group who have squatted in the middle of
this area in Florida and continued to import family members (illegals) to join them here, until they have become a population to be reckoned with ... their dense numbers, demographically, makes them important as consumers (product placement and marketing has now switched to spanish/english instructions and packaging), and they are also attractive as constituents.

Our governing officials are voted into office by a representative faction of the populace ... they know if there is a large Hispanic population they have to make sure the issues they tackle don't offend anyone of that persuasion because otherwise the popularity of this governing official will become a casualty. They don't want to offend voters or tackle causes dear to the hearts of the majority of a group of people.

As for the quote in the article that says illegals are changing our language --- this group in Florida prides themselves on never having learned to speak English, and don't feel they should have to. They are forcing the english speaking Florida natives out of their neighborhoods (not by strong arm techniques ... people are leaving because they don't like to see what is happening to their neighborhood, that they have become foreigners in their own neighborhood and home no longer feels like home.) The local merchants must cater to the hispanics (and largely illegal population), rather than the English speaking minority who remain. These same non-english speaking people are lobbying to have the official language of the United States changed to spanish.

If this comes to the political forefront then you will see me become a political activist.

I don't want you to think I don't like people who come from another country ... not at all! What I don't like are people who come from another country, choose to LIVE HERE (as in become a citizen) and don't do a damn thing to learn the language, the customs, etc. And what I REALLY DON'T LIKE is how we are ENCOURAGING that by printing everything in English and Spanish.

I can speak a teensy bit of Spanish and always swore I was going to brush up to get
better (I have a good accent, I've been told, sound like a native, hay carumba!) but choose not to, on principle, because I am so disgusted with how EVERYTHING is becoming more Spanish, instead of immigrants becoming more familiar with the language of their adopted country.

I don't think it really started to bother me until an extra button was added on to the ATM machine at my bank ... forcing me to choose my transaction in English or Spanish, thereby lengthening the time that it now takes to process a transaction at the supposedly rapid cash dispensing ATM's. I kind of think if you want your money bad enough, you will figure it out.

After I read this article yesterday, I kept thinking about it.

I am interested in Genealogy and recently I found the records of an immigrant ancestor at the National Archives. He came here from Ireland or England (still not sure which because he was either illiterate or trying to lie) but his last name was Farrell, so my guess is he had some Irish somewhere in his background. He arrived in the early 1800's, well before the potato famine started forcing the Irish people to emigrate in droves ... my point (and I do have one) is this:

I know that the Irish were despised and hated, as were the Chinese who settled in California during the Gold Rush. Is this struggle with the immigrant hispanic population just the newest version of history repeating itself?

(I know I have singled out hispanics ... this is because they are the largest immigrant population in America, and the one having the biggest impact, but my question refers to all immigrant nationalities .)

The Irish and the Chinese who came here during the 1800's were looking to better their lives. Isn't the same true for the immigrants of today? How about the criminal element? I'm sure they came over in the 1800's too, drawn by the wildness of the West and the riches of the gold rush ... of course, back then vigilantism was the way to handle anyone who took criminal behavior too far. Of course, our country was so wild then we probably classified as a 3rd world country by today's standards. Today we have the police, the INS and Dept. of Homeland Security ... and Lawyers. So that means that the ongoing battle between law enforcement officials and lawyers is merely the result of a civilized society, right?

So ... back to the question of illegals and what to do with them:

Do they have a right to try to make a better world for themselves? Yes, they do.

So how does one do that properly? One applies for a VISA (and then gets an American Express and Mastercard ... heee-heee!) and permission to enter. If you are from one of the "blacklisted" countries (hostile to USA), you will be denied a VISA.

(The blacklisted countries are those countries that encourage you to sacrifice a child for the cause, "blow up a baby to show you hate the USA" ... I happen to agree with John Walsh from "America's Most Wanted" and his well-expressed views on the home grown loonies we have here already, and I see nothing wrong with denying entrance to the foreign grown loonies.)

I'm now arguing myself into a corner, and I'm rapidly losing my point, so I'm going to finish with this:

Basically, I love this country. I think this is the best place on earth to live and it's a privilege to live here. I want to make sure that everyone who comes here feels the same, because if you don't then get out. But, how do you enforce this? By closing the borders? Sealing ourselves in like China with their great wall? Berlin with theirs? I don't think we want to become like either of those examples, so how do we solve the issue of uncontrolled immigration, and what do we do with those who are already here, as well as those still trying to get in? If you know the answers please write to me and we can forward a few letters to President Bush, the INS and Dept. of Homeland Security because I think they need some suggestions on how to properly deal with such a troublesome issue.

(Sharondarella steps down off her soapbox and everyone claps because they are all really glad she is done talking.)

:)

I saw this and I had to share:

Just 19 minutes in the morning makes for a clean house all day

KITCHEN: 4½ MINUTES
Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher (30 seconds).
Wipe down the stove top (one minute).
Wipe down the counters (one minute).
Sweep, Swiffer, or vacuum the floor (two minutes).

Tip: Always start with the sink. "Keep it empty and shining," says Marla Cilley, author of Sink Reflections (Bantam, $15) and creator of FlyLady.net, a housekeeping website. A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen's benchmark for hygiene and tidiness, inspiring you to load the dishwasher immediately and keep counters, refrigerator doors, and the stove top spick-and-span, too.

(Do you think I could bring that sparkling sink with me all day to inspire my co-workers in the hygiene and tidiness department, too?)

BATHROOM: 2 MINUTES
Wipe out the sink (30 seconds).
Wipe the toilet seat and rim (15 seconds).
Swoosh the toilet bowl with a brush (15 seconds).
Wipe the mirror and faucet (15 seconds).
Squeegee the shower door (30 seconds).
Spray the entire shower and the curtain liner with shower mist after every use (15 seconds).

Tip: Make cleaning the basin as routine as washing your hands. But don't stop there. Get the most out of your premoistened wipe by using it to clean around the edges of the tub and then the toilet before tossing it.

(I'm glad she clarified that you should clean the tub BEFORE the toilet. ICK!)

BEDROOM: 6½ MINUTES
Make the bed (two minutes).
Fold or hang clothing and put away jewelry (four minutes).
Straighten out the night-table surface (30 seconds).

Tip: Make your bed right before or after your morning shower. A neat bed will inspire you to deal with other messes immediately. Although smoothing sheets and plumping pillows might not seem like a high priority as you're rushing to work, the payoff comes at the end of the day, when you slip back under the unruffled covers.

(I wonder who she has joining her in that bed under those unruffled covers, at the end of the day? That's the payoff I'd be looking for... and is she emphasizing cleaning off fingerprints merely for cleanliness reasons, or is this like a Martha Stewart reference to removing the evidence?)

LIVING ROOM: 6 MINUTES
Pick up crumbs and dust bunnies with a handheld vacuum (one minute).
Fluff the cushions and fold throws after use (two minutes).
Wipe tabletops and spot-clean cabinets when you see fingerprints (one minute).
Straighten coffee-table books and magazines. Throw out newspapers. Put away CDs and videos (two minutes).

Tip: Start with the sofa — as long as it's in disarray, the room will never look tidy. Pop in a CD while you dust and you should be able to cover the whole room by the fourth track.

Who has a sofa that's in such "disarray" that the rest of the room looks like crap? To me, disarray implies slightly disheveled, such as what you might see after a night of fun sex on the sofa ... perhaps you find a sock, pair of panties, a lacy bra ... although, if it's someone disgusting, like my ex-roommate, you may find a used condom stuffed down in the cushions (MORAL: NEVER stick your hand in the cushions without first pulling them out and LOOKING to see what it there, no matter how many coins you just dropped into the couch. And don't assume that is a dollar bill back where you can't see, just because it makes dry, crackly noises...)

Of course, "disarray" could be a code word for verging on disgustingly dirty: I knew a guy who had a cat in need of Prozac; the cat had scared itself into near baldness until it had become like a cartoon cat. What hair that was left was shedding all over the sofa in nasty clumps of white hairs, so it looked like someone had opened a bag of cotton balls and tossed them randomly through the house, liberally covering the sofa. Do you think this might classify as "disarray"?