Environmental Defense Fund Seafood Selector
Just thought I'd pass along some important information regarding your selection of fish next time you eat or buy fish. I know that fish populations have been stressed for quite some time but it's worse than I imagined. The populations of everyone's favorite sushi fish, the bluefin tuna, are in serious trouble. I think my biggest surprise was the high levels of PCB's in farm-raised salmon.
It's worth a look. Check your local chemical levels as I'm sure that these numbers differ from region to region.
Update: I found all the previous info while showing my daughter the Monterey Bay Aquarium webcams, which I highly recommend. Shortly after publishing the post, I came across this great diary on Daily Kos from bob zimway regarding the pitfalls of fish farming. I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read this post.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Pride
I'm not one to get overly emotional or patriotic but my love and devotion to my country equals that of anyone displaying 10 flags on their car. However, I am honestly humbled, awed, and swollen with pride today as I cast my vote for Barack Obama. After I finished, I sat down to wait for my wife to cast her ballot and I almost came to tears watching my fellow citizens complete their civic duty. I also learned that my neighbors shared my candidate, which made me feel much better as I live in an homogenous section of Atlanta mostly populated by persons of European descent (Although Decatur is pretty liberal by Georgia standards). I've never been this emotional in any prior election.
I've pondered the signifiance of this election on many occasions but last week the full impact hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't move from my couch as I stared off into space feeling like a tiny yet powerful speck in this whole process. I'm only a single person in a nation of hundreds of millions but I can get Obama one step closer and that we, as a nation, are on the brink of electing an African-American as the leader of the free world. This is something that I can recall to my grandchildren as I tell the story of Obama's fight to gain the White House.
Moreover, Obama is a superior game-changing candidate regardless of the color of his skin. He's a rare combination of intelligence, charimsa, open-mindedness, and political skill. I see many of Bill Clinton's finest attributes in Barack Obama. I also feel he could be at least as successful achievement-wise and I'm confident he'll keep his pants zipped.
It's a great day!
I've pondered the signifiance of this election on many occasions but last week the full impact hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't move from my couch as I stared off into space feeling like a tiny yet powerful speck in this whole process. I'm only a single person in a nation of hundreds of millions but I can get Obama one step closer and that we, as a nation, are on the brink of electing an African-American as the leader of the free world. This is something that I can recall to my grandchildren as I tell the story of Obama's fight to gain the White House.
Moreover, Obama is a superior game-changing candidate regardless of the color of his skin. He's a rare combination of intelligence, charimsa, open-mindedness, and political skill. I see many of Bill Clinton's finest attributes in Barack Obama. I also feel he could be at least as successful achievement-wise and I'm confident he'll keep his pants zipped.
It's a great day!
Today's the day we finally get to vote!!!!
Yayyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG year.
But no matter who you choose or where you live, today is a celebration of one of our great American events: the Presidential Election. Make sure you place your vote as to who should lead our country over the next four years. Of course, if you voted already then you celebrated early (Kind of like opening your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day).
I would tell you that I'm live vote-blogging at my Sagamore Hills Elementary School poling place but, in all honesty and humility to me as an author, that's just not good theater. I expect the experience to resemble peeling paint in terms of the play-by-play. Plus, I don't expect too many irregularities from my particular district.
If I'm involved in or am witness to any curiosities or interesting voting anecdotes, I'll be sure to pass them along to you, my eager readers, so that you may use them as ice-breakers at cocktail parties or pickup lines at your favorite partisan watering hole.
God Bless America!
Update: Nothing to report from my polling place as of 11:30 AM EST. Standard stuff. I was in line for less than 15 minutes and actually spent more time talking with my neighbors than voting.
It's been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG year.
But no matter who you choose or where you live, today is a celebration of one of our great American events: the Presidential Election. Make sure you place your vote as to who should lead our country over the next four years. Of course, if you voted already then you celebrated early (Kind of like opening your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day).
I would tell you that I'm live vote-blogging at my Sagamore Hills Elementary School poling place but, in all honesty and humility to me as an author, that's just not good theater. I expect the experience to resemble peeling paint in terms of the play-by-play. Plus, I don't expect too many irregularities from my particular district.
If I'm involved in or am witness to any curiosities or interesting voting anecdotes, I'll be sure to pass them along to you, my eager readers, so that you may use them as ice-breakers at cocktail parties or pickup lines at your favorite partisan watering hole.
God Bless America!
Update: Nothing to report from my polling place as of 11:30 AM EST. Standard stuff. I was in line for less than 15 minutes and actually spent more time talking with my neighbors than voting.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
52" Plasma TVs rock
As I type this post, I'm watching college football on my Samsung 52" plasma screen TV. It's gorgeous. My house feels like a sports bar without the potato skins which, if anyone has a good recipe, I'd be happy to serve. And we have a seemingly unlimited supply of beer to boot if you're interested. For whatever reason, people bring alcohol to my house and most of it remains undrunk. And don't even look at the Johnny Walker Blue in my liquor cabinet. It almost feels like my annual overstock for Mardi Gras.
Anyway, I digress. There's an obvious difference in the plasma TV image quality in general but the improvement over regular or LCD screens may be most apparent while viewing a sporting event. Seriously. The Matrix looks great but can't compare with ESPN HD baseball.
If you have the means, I highly recommend it. Ooooo.
I must admit, as long as I have access to my TV, beer, bathroom, and free parking, I may never physically attend a sporting event again (Sorry Dillberto, I know you have Saints season tickets). And I don't even have to worry about my guests smoking in the john.
Cheers to technology. I'll never leave the house.
Anyway, I digress. There's an obvious difference in the plasma TV image quality in general but the improvement over regular or LCD screens may be most apparent while viewing a sporting event. Seriously. The Matrix looks great but can't compare with ESPN HD baseball.
If you have the means, I highly recommend it. Ooooo.
I must admit, as long as I have access to my TV, beer, bathroom, and free parking, I may never physically attend a sporting event again (Sorry Dillberto, I know you have Saints season tickets). And I don't even have to worry about my guests smoking in the john.
Cheers to technology. I'll never leave the house.
Would Bush be a better president than McCain?
As I watch the trainwreck that is McCain 2008 (See here and here as a primer), I can't help but think that the Republican intelligensia knew their business when Bush torpedoed McCain's 2000 campaign with the help of the GOP elite. I know the influence of the Bush family was tantamount but was there a larger concern for Republicans? Certainly, some of the issues raised during the South Carolina primary in which McCain's fate was determined were completely fabricated and over-the-top. Other issues at that time including McCain's sanity and temper appear to be gaining traction as McCain enters the homestretch.
Simply put, McCain has too many character flaws, independent of ideology, to be a reliable presidential candidate. We can start by questioning his judgement with the choice of Sarah Palin as VP. Or, we can discuss McCain inciting his conservative base during campaign rallies. On other fronts, McCain's submerged rage for Obama was clearly on display during the most recent presidential debate. And he's also been testy while gambling in Puerto Rico. Not to mention his chronic addiction to pathological lying and he's passive aggressive. There's more but I need to get to the point.
McCain couldn't be trusted to carry out the GOP gameplan as his maverickness could turn against the party at any given moment. Moreover, McCain's temper and judgement proved a liability while stabilizing the top of the ticket. And it's a problem today; he's trying carry out Rove's patented blueprint for White House victory but the displeasure on his face is obvious. Simply put, Bush has a better poker face.
I honestly thought McCain was a slam-dunk for the White House in 2000. Admittedly, my opinion was formed prior to the South Carolina primary, which preceeded the general election by some nine months. But many Democrats, including myself, were seriously considering voting for McCain over Gore as we were coming off of an exhausting eight years with Clinton. We may not have pulled the lever on election day but the idea was on the table.
The GOP saw otherwise as he didn't significantly stir the Republican base. I found it odd because there would have been significant cross-over Democrats as well as independents that would have given him an advantage. Most voters that register with a specific party generally stick to party lines so most, if not all, Republicans would have fallen in line to cleanse themselves of Clinton. Instead, Republican rolled the dice as evangelicals and core Republicans became the key to victory while McCain was derailed in favor of Bush. Watching McCain become unglued as Obama takes control of the election, I can't help but shake the notion that there was more to Bush's escalation in 2000 than simply being a Bush. McCain's behavior is unbecoming and unsettling for someone who might become the leader of the free world and it's always been there. And the GOP has known it for years.
I have no smoking guns or secret emails to prove my point. It's a hunch. Let's discuss.
Simply put, McCain has too many character flaws, independent of ideology, to be a reliable presidential candidate. We can start by questioning his judgement with the choice of Sarah Palin as VP. Or, we can discuss McCain inciting his conservative base during campaign rallies. On other fronts, McCain's submerged rage for Obama was clearly on display during the most recent presidential debate. And he's also been testy while gambling in Puerto Rico. Not to mention his chronic addiction to pathological lying and he's passive aggressive. There's more but I need to get to the point.
McCain couldn't be trusted to carry out the GOP gameplan as his maverickness could turn against the party at any given moment. Moreover, McCain's temper and judgement proved a liability while stabilizing the top of the ticket. And it's a problem today; he's trying carry out Rove's patented blueprint for White House victory but the displeasure on his face is obvious. Simply put, Bush has a better poker face.
I honestly thought McCain was a slam-dunk for the White House in 2000. Admittedly, my opinion was formed prior to the South Carolina primary, which preceeded the general election by some nine months. But many Democrats, including myself, were seriously considering voting for McCain over Gore as we were coming off of an exhausting eight years with Clinton. We may not have pulled the lever on election day but the idea was on the table.
The GOP saw otherwise as he didn't significantly stir the Republican base. I found it odd because there would have been significant cross-over Democrats as well as independents that would have given him an advantage. Most voters that register with a specific party generally stick to party lines so most, if not all, Republicans would have fallen in line to cleanse themselves of Clinton. Instead, Republican rolled the dice as evangelicals and core Republicans became the key to victory while McCain was derailed in favor of Bush. Watching McCain become unglued as Obama takes control of the election, I can't help but shake the notion that there was more to Bush's escalation in 2000 than simply being a Bush. McCain's behavior is unbecoming and unsettling for someone who might become the leader of the free world and it's always been there. And the GOP has known it for years.
I have no smoking guns or secret emails to prove my point. It's a hunch. Let's discuss.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Must-see movie
Bill Maher's new movie "Religulous" doesn't open in theaters until October 3. In case you are unfamiliar with his work, Bill has given us such cultural gems as Real Time with Bill Maher and Politically Incorrect. "Religulous" chronicles Bill traveling the world in search of religious hypocrisy, which really isn't too hard to find but provides great material in the hands of the right person, and the advanced reports on "Religulous" suggest it will be very entertaining. The film is directed by Larry Charles, the gentleman who gave us "Borat", so you immediately get a sense of what's coming.
Some moments I eagerly anticipate as taken from the LA Times article:
Some moments I eagerly anticipate as taken from the LA Times article:
- In Holland, Maher is in the midst of questioning a somber Muslim cleric when he's interrupted by the cleric's cellphone, whose ring tone is Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir."
- You know irreverence is the order of the day when Maher, reacting to a smooth-talking black preacher's boast that he got a great deal on his $2,000 suits, drolly observes, "I find it interesting that you're a Christian, you used to be a Muslim but you buy all your clothes like a Jew."
Should be worth a large popcorn and a box of Junior Mints.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Olympics or Super Bowl halftime? You be the judge.
I know I'm being a bit of an uncultured louse but do the Olympic Games opening ceremonies ever remind you of an overstaged Super Bowl halftime show? There's just enough kitsch to make me hurry to the fridge to get another beer because the second half is about to begin.
Update: Alright, I'm a louse. I made my observations from several photos and extrapolating to many past ceremonies. I actually got to watch the ceremonies last night (Hours after I made my orginial post) and I was wrong. Last night's performance was quite stunning and didn't remind me too, too much of the Super Bowl. The jury is still out for other opening ceremonies.
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