Monday, January 5, 2009

Lakers post best record in the NBA with win over the Jazz

After beating the Utak Jazz last night, 113-100, the Lakers have once again claimed the best record in the NBA.

The Celtics and the Cavs both lost last night to pave the way.

The interesting ting to me is that the Lakers are not playing that well, but they manage to win. Go Lakers!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Today in The Times-Standard: Recycling Woes

(Editor's Note: the Times-Standard didn't update their Online front page again this weekend so you won't be able to find my column. I've reprinted it here for readers who want to view it.

                          By Dave Stancliff
       I talked with a small businessman in Arcata the other day and the subject of recycling came up. Linn, who owns a muffler shop, pointed to a stack of catalytic convertors in one corner, and shook his head in disgust.
       “Their value is dropping through the floor,” he said. “A year ago I could have sold that bunch for $2,000. I’ll be lucky to get $500 for them now.” Linn isn’t alone. Small businesses and  municipalities across the country face this year’s decline in prices and demand for recycled material. 
        In recent years, recycling has been profitable and a win-win situation for all involved. Municipalities, the recycling companies that serve them, and the manufacturers that process the paper, cans and plastics into everything from packaging to fabric have found profit in the practice.
        Those profits are disappearing as consumers buy fewer goods and factories need less raw material. In a recent report from the Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators - a non profit organization of management professionals - the alarm was sounded.
        According to this report, the “recycling market is in turmoil.” It points out that there is now a glut of recyclables, but they expect that to level off over the coming months as generation of this material slows down.
         The report stated, “the overseas market appears to have pretty much dried up and recycling programs in Europe are also facing the same oversupply challenges.” Allen Herschkowitz, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, recently told the press that he was concerned that the recycling infrastructure in America might not survive without government help.
           I’m not sure I agree with Herschkowitz. Any kind of bailout is viewed very critically right now. However, the government should prioritize normal funding for programs that are ecologically healing - like recycling. My biggest concern is that people will stop recycling if they get less money for their efforts.
          The slow down in the recycling industry, has a few good side effects. There’s less copper theft in Lansing, MI., according to The Lansing State Journal. It’s report declared that is the good news when markets for metals and other recyclables have tumbled.
           Lt. Noel Garcia, a spokesman for the Lansing Police Department, told the Journal “the decrease in crime is, of course, welcome.” He said t theft of copper from vacant homes and other properties is down.
           I’ve also read that recycling thieves who were stealing manhole covers have moved onto other pursuits, due to plunging profits.
           According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans generated about 254 million tons of trash last year. Bob Garino, director of commodities at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, a Washington, D.C. based trade association, told the press that about 150 million tons of material were recycled - roughly 80 million of that in iron and steel - supporting an industry that employs 85,000 workers and has $70 billion in sales.
           Experts say  most of the recyclables Americans generate are shipped to Asian countries to make products that are shipped back to the United States.
         Prices and profits are down right according to the industry gurus, but many of them think that is a temporary situation. Mike Schedler, the technical director of NAPCOR, the trade organization for the North American PET plastics industry, told the press “there should be as much of a focus on the end use of recyclables as on their collection.”
            There’s a sense of hope in the recycling industry, despite it’s sudden hard times. I suspect that’s because anyone with a brain understands that recycling is absolutely necessary. Imagine what would happen to the country’s landfills if we stopped recycling? Not a pretty picture.
           Changes are coming this year. The new administration will be more environmentally conscious. Most Americans appreciate the fact that recycling is necessary, and hopefully will not  change their habits during this rough stretch in the economy.
           I’d like to see more American manufacturers like “Terracycle” in Trenton, New Jersey (http://www.terracycle.net ), that make things out of recycled material instead of shipping it overseas. More businessmen need to look to the good old USA again and the potential our own recycled materials have.
           As It Stands, there will always be trash, and the need to ecologically dispose of it is tied into the need to make a profit while we do it.    

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Economic Recovery Plan: Obama urges congress to move fast

President-elect Barack Obama urged congressional leaders today to move quickly on an economic recovery plan, even as some Republicans are saying they want more time to review the details.

Obama said Congress should pass an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan designed to create 3 million jobs. The Democratic president-elect hasn't announced a final price tag on it, but aides said the cost could be as high as $775 billion.

Friday, January 2, 2009

There's always an eye-in-the-sky watching you...

Some people call the Eye Google. It's satellite shows every niche and cranny on the planet.

Now consider how easy it is for the government, under the auspices of the Patriot Act, to watch your every move with the thousands of satellites available to it.

It's George Orwell's greatest fear. He wrote about Big Brother as a warning to society. It didn't make any difference under the Bush regime which has methodically stripped us of our Constitutional rights.

Will the Eye still be as intrusive when Obama takes office? I wonder. What do you think?

More Meandering On Millie My Pug...

This is not my Millie. She's blog-shy (actually she thinks someone will dog-nab her!). This is a reasonable likeness of her, and I wanted to put some art in this post to get you to stop and read it. Talk about brazen eh?

We just got back from our daily walk, between soft showers that have been cleansing the land. We stopped to say hi! to the donkeys and miniature ponies who were also enjoying the outbreak of sunlight and frisking around. I know for sure what happened to a cluster of fake cranberries that disappeared yesterday. Poop patrol revealed funny white round pellets that I'm sure were once cranberry-colored.

For a small dog she sure sets a brutal pace. After a mile, I have to slow her down before I collapse! We've got an interesting little route that is uphill one way and down the other. I'm hoping to shed some of the pounds I put on during the holidays. We may have to add some more distance to our current route for awhile.

If you already have a pug then I don't have to tell you what a great friend they are. Thinking about getting a dog? Pug's have a lot of good qualities and are awful cute if you dress them up. Millie is not one for flash so I don't bother her with silly costumes, but I admit to making her wear a yellow and purple Laker collar in honor of my favorite basketball team.

Millie is my constant companion, but the minute my wife comes home she drops me like a bad date! She loves Shirley and makes sure to get a lot of snuggle time in with her. Peace is a snug pug!

What do you tell your children about why we're in Iraq?

Arnold Went To Dubya Last Year Seeking a La La Land Bailout

There's been no word on what Lame Chimp president Bush promised Arnie.

 California's financial future is in question and Arnie needs to work with state legislators-as opposed to his current terminator political tactics.

My guess is Dubya showed Arnie some love, but it was fleeting!

 

Hollywood Faces Tough Times In This Battered Economy

During the Great Depression people still poured into movie houses for escape and the industry thrived.

But during our current Great Depression, Hollywood is struggling and facing layoffs

Part of the reason is that people can now be entertained in their home with movie videos that are a lot cheaper than going to movie theaters.

Storm clouds gather before this year's Oscars ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The entertainment industry is facing its worst economic outlook in decades.

Photo by Bryan Chan / LA Times

Thursday, January 1, 2009

DAY ONE BLOG: Here's Hoping That 2009 Will Be Fine

So here we are dear reader.

Another year to pick apart in monthly stages, as the drama of a new presidency presents us with changes. Each day is to be dissected and reflected upon in blog fashion. Indirect, and direct opinions, about the world we live in can be expected from me. I see each day in a sweeping search of online blogs, newspapers, magazines, and conversations with people.

Some readers last year wondered if I was a Christian. One reader even wondered what my platform AS IT STANDS is built upon? Of course that's both a symbolic and theological question. In simpler terms the reader wondered if I believed in God and is my blog God-based?

For some reason I didn't anticipate questions about my religion when I started this blog in July 2008. But in the last six months I've had a fair amount of people responding to my newspaper column and this blog, wondering what my beliefs are? One reader wrote a letter-to-the editor about my Christmas column in the Times-Standard. That reader gently chastised me for not pointing out that it's a Christian holiday honoring Jesus Christ's birth.

In retrospect, I know why I didn't come out and just say that. During my years as a newspaper editor I wrote many Christmas columns. The one's where I made it clear what Christmas was all about always resulted in a negative backlash. Now as a Christian, I should expect that and even be glad because I'm doing the right thing.

All I can say is, when you try to serve segments of the public you pay a price. Everyone's not a Christian. So as an editor, I always attempted to appeal to the general public. Call me a coward. But after enough battering on a yearly basis over the same subject of Christmas, I opted to stand on the fence last year. So someone called me out on my beliefs. Sigh. There's no such thing as a middle ground for some people.

Does this make me a bad Christian? Am I a hypocrite for not preaching God's word in my columns and blogs? I don't think so. I never set out to convert anyone. God did not give me that calling. He did bless me with the ability to write, and I try to be humble about this gift. Sometimes my pride shows and I'm guilty of patting myself on the back. I guess I'm just human after all.

My mission for this year is to entertain readers and present subjects of interest, including opinion pieces, to stimulate readers to  respond. The more comments the merrier. I'm hoping to make you laugh and to make you ponder subjects you might not have thought about before. I want to share local, national, and world events with the reader on a daily basis. So that's it. Is this a New Year's resolution? Heck no.

AS IT STANDS, this is just my mission in life!

 

Robot To Lead Off 2009 Rose Parade

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...