I own some property in nearby Brunswick, Georgia—a duplex and some adjacent vacant lots on which I intend to build some small houses in the future. I screwed around last summer and let the back yard of the duplex and the lots grow up with weeds head high because I didn’t have a lawnmower and the energy to operate same and I was too cheep to actually hire someone to knock down the growth.
I’ve decided to get ahead of the game this season and have our Condo’s landscaper, Ozzy, clean everything up and keep ahead of the growth this year. Ozzy went by yesterday to look at the situation and calculate a price for the work. When he reported back to me he had some bad news…someone had broken into the vacant duplex.
I was dressed, in my truck, toolbox in hand, within thirty minutes of hearing the news. I was pissed off that my property had been violated AGAIN and I was fearful of what I would find inside once I got there.
This was the second time in three months that someone has entered this same rental unit through the same door. The first time they broke in they just kicked the door open and looked around inside. Since the unit was unoccupied and there was nothing to steal but bathroom fixtures, an old stove, refrigerator, and the kitchen sink, I guess that they were disappointed. I fixed the door by putting on a new slide bolt and installing a reinforcing plywood panel.
This second forced entry again found the unit unoccupied, containing the bathroom and kitchen fixtures. The only difference in the two events?
THEY STOLE MY KITCHEN SINK!!!!
Really, the side door was open and everything inside was intact, except the crappy kitchen cabinet, countertop, and sink was missing—pipes and all. There is a spot on the floor where the linoleum stops and an outline of where the cabinet was, but no cabinet…
And no sink.
I think that I’ve seen everything now.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Thursday, April 21, 2005
One Hell Of A Commute
(A Day in The Life Of My Girl)
As my long time readers already know, my girlfriend, Patricia, lives with me here on St. Simons Island Georgia, but her primary job function is located in Elgin, Illinois. She is, as I write, on her way back home tonight after spending two nights working in her “other office” in Elgin. Only a select few seasoned business travelers know what she actually goes through each week in accomplishing her duties.
I lived ten years spending several hours each day commuting to and from work in the Atlanta metropolitan area. It’s a wonder that I didn’t have a stroke or a heart attack dealing with the ingrates and morons I faced in traffic each day.
I also spent another ten years driving all over the Southeastern US and flying to points unknown selling my air-pollution-control/energy-recovery products and systems to everybody that had a smokestack on their property. I thought that I knew everything about business travel.
I WAS WRONG.
If you haven’t traveled every week for a living, you probably believe that traveling is a fun, glamorous, wonderful ritual. Well, it is…for about six months…after that…
YOU ARE SO MISTAKEN.
Here is how your life works when you travel for a living…
Tuesday morning 4:00 AM--The alarm clock goes off…time to wake up. Dutiful boyfriend (that would be me,) having been awake on the living room sofa for three or four hours blogging and reading news on the internet, steps in to verify that the alarm has done it’s job and that a position of verticality is being assumed.
After wiping the sleep from your eyes, you step into the shower while dutiful boyfriend (DB) places English muffin in toaster and pours glass of orange juice. DB also fires up clothes iron and presses slacks and blouse while checking internet web sites for air traffic control conditions and weather on each end of the ensuing journey.
The Internet is a wonderful, yet aggravating asset when you travel for a living. The FAA maintains this site that provides pseudo-real-time information about the delays and flow of air traffic on a regional and national basis. We use the site every time Pat travels. The only problem is, when your flight leaves at 6:10 AM the system doesn’t have a chance to receive any bad news when it comes to weather or equipment delays, it is often useless at that time of the morning.
Next we look at the local weather on St. Simons and the weather at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Based on the weather reports, I pick out the over coats and gloves that Pat will carry with her.
Over the past few weeks, the temperature in Chicago has been equal to if not greater than that here on the Georgia coast. In the winter, however, she has seen temperature swings of over fifty degrees F in the six hours it takes to make the trip from Brunswick/Glynn County Airport, through Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport, to Chicago’s O’Hare. The shock of going from 60 degrees to 20 degrees is obvious.
After arrival at O’Hare and struggling through a mile of passenger terminals and picking up her luggage at baggage claim, she boards a rental car bus at “ground transportation” and wanders off to a strange motor vehicle. When she is driving solo, they inevitably give her a SUV or mini-van. When she is meeting a group of three or four “super-sized” co-workers, they get the Toyota four door sedan.
Go Figure?
The good news is that the Hotel in Elgin treats Pat like a Queen and they even reserve the same two or three rooms (not all at once) for her when she is in town, so she can at least get on the elevator on each trip and know where she is going after dinner and a few drinks in the Bennegan’s Restaurant located in the lobby.
So, she works for two or three or four days, packs up her luggage, and does everything in reverse. IF the weather is OK and IF the airplanes all work and IF there isn’t some other unforeseen circumstance, she gets back to our little island home about 11:30 on Thursday night. If there is a problem, she gets home on Friday sometime between 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM, having spent a harrowing night in a hotel in the Atlanta area. IT SUCKS.
The good news is, she just called me from the Brunswick airport and she’ll be here in 20 minutes.
LIFE IS GOOD ON THE ISLAND AGAIN.
As my long time readers already know, my girlfriend, Patricia, lives with me here on St. Simons Island Georgia, but her primary job function is located in Elgin, Illinois. She is, as I write, on her way back home tonight after spending two nights working in her “other office” in Elgin. Only a select few seasoned business travelers know what she actually goes through each week in accomplishing her duties.
I lived ten years spending several hours each day commuting to and from work in the Atlanta metropolitan area. It’s a wonder that I didn’t have a stroke or a heart attack dealing with the ingrates and morons I faced in traffic each day.
I also spent another ten years driving all over the Southeastern US and flying to points unknown selling my air-pollution-control/energy-recovery products and systems to everybody that had a smokestack on their property. I thought that I knew everything about business travel.
I WAS WRONG.
If you haven’t traveled every week for a living, you probably believe that traveling is a fun, glamorous, wonderful ritual. Well, it is…for about six months…after that…
YOU ARE SO MISTAKEN.
Here is how your life works when you travel for a living…
Tuesday morning 4:00 AM--The alarm clock goes off…time to wake up. Dutiful boyfriend (that would be me,) having been awake on the living room sofa for three or four hours blogging and reading news on the internet, steps in to verify that the alarm has done it’s job and that a position of verticality is being assumed.
After wiping the sleep from your eyes, you step into the shower while dutiful boyfriend (DB) places English muffin in toaster and pours glass of orange juice. DB also fires up clothes iron and presses slacks and blouse while checking internet web sites for air traffic control conditions and weather on each end of the ensuing journey.
The Internet is a wonderful, yet aggravating asset when you travel for a living. The FAA maintains this site that provides pseudo-real-time information about the delays and flow of air traffic on a regional and national basis. We use the site every time Pat travels. The only problem is, when your flight leaves at 6:10 AM the system doesn’t have a chance to receive any bad news when it comes to weather or equipment delays, it is often useless at that time of the morning.
Next we look at the local weather on St. Simons and the weather at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Based on the weather reports, I pick out the over coats and gloves that Pat will carry with her.
Over the past few weeks, the temperature in Chicago has been equal to if not greater than that here on the Georgia coast. In the winter, however, she has seen temperature swings of over fifty degrees F in the six hours it takes to make the trip from Brunswick/Glynn County Airport, through Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport, to Chicago’s O’Hare. The shock of going from 60 degrees to 20 degrees is obvious.
After arrival at O’Hare and struggling through a mile of passenger terminals and picking up her luggage at baggage claim, she boards a rental car bus at “ground transportation” and wanders off to a strange motor vehicle. When she is driving solo, they inevitably give her a SUV or mini-van. When she is meeting a group of three or four “super-sized” co-workers, they get the Toyota four door sedan.
Go Figure?
The good news is that the Hotel in Elgin treats Pat like a Queen and they even reserve the same two or three rooms (not all at once) for her when she is in town, so she can at least get on the elevator on each trip and know where she is going after dinner and a few drinks in the Bennegan’s Restaurant located in the lobby.
So, she works for two or three or four days, packs up her luggage, and does everything in reverse. IF the weather is OK and IF the airplanes all work and IF there isn’t some other unforeseen circumstance, she gets back to our little island home about 11:30 on Thursday night. If there is a problem, she gets home on Friday sometime between 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM, having spent a harrowing night in a hotel in the Atlanta area. IT SUCKS.
The good news is, she just called me from the Brunswick airport and she’ll be here in 20 minutes.
LIFE IS GOOD ON THE ISLAND AGAIN.
One Less Thing To Worry About
I often lay awake at night, or get up and wander around the condo and outside because I can’t sleep longer than four to six hours at a time any more. I use this time to mentally solve national problems and worry about a lot of things that might be of no interest to a lot of people. Call it a curse…
I’m pleased to report that we all have one less problem to worry about because "experts" have solved the mystery of unpopped popcorn.
For all of us that enjoy straining our jaws and chipping our teeth on the partially popped “old maids”, I’m thinking about coming out with my own “Crappy Pop” brand of microwave popcorn.
99% partially popped kernels…
Each bag will come complete with a discount coupon for a new crown on the tooth of your choice.
I’m pleased to report that we all have one less problem to worry about because "experts" have solved the mystery of unpopped popcorn.
For all of us that enjoy straining our jaws and chipping our teeth on the partially popped “old maids”, I’m thinking about coming out with my own “Crappy Pop” brand of microwave popcorn.
99% partially popped kernels…
Each bag will come complete with a discount coupon for a new crown on the tooth of your choice.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Environmental Mental Illness
There were some new environmental rumblings coming out of the United Nations last week. They’re lecturing us about the Ozone layer…AGAIN..
Any time the UN starts talking about the environment, you better hold onto your wallet or purse because changes are likely coming as a result of their astute misconceptions that will ultimately cost Americans money.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the renowned champions of the Earth’s arch enemy--Global Warming, just released their newest report entitled ”Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System: Issues Relating to Hydrofluorocarbons and Perfluorocarbons.”
Now don’t let your eyes glaze over with hydro-technico-mumbo-jumbo here. I’m going to keep this discussion simple.
You remember the Ozone Layer, don’t you? You know—Ozone—the stuff that resides way up high in the atmosphere and that is supposed to protect the Earth from excess solar radiation and prevent us from all getting skin cancer. Yeah, that’s right—O-Z-O-N-E.
Ozone was the number one climate issue that the “experts” and the media instructed school children and adults alike to worry about back in the 1980’s before they had Global Warming to toss out on the world environmental stage to spark the guilt of all of us evil capitalists.
Subsequent to the UN holding a conference in Vienna, Italy in 1985 and another in Montreal Canada in 1987, the UN adopted and the United States ratified the Montreal Protocol Treaty. In short, this agreement caused everyone here in the US to change the type of refrigerant used in their car air conditioners, changed the kind of aerosol propellants used in hairspray and deodorant, and made expensive, intrusive changes in industries like insulation and foam manufacturers—all in the name of “protecting the Ozone Layer.”
Eighteen years after the fact, the IPCC is still screwing around making recommendations and reviewing their progress and guess what they have found and reported? Some of the things they asked us to do apparently have had absolutely no effect on the Ozone layer and some may have had an adverse effect.
That is, if you happen to believe that anything that humans do actually has any affect at all on the amount of Ozone in the Stratosphere.
AP-France has this to say about the report:
“International scientists have called for more cuts in the chemicals used in refrigerators, air conditioning units and plastic foams, and better recycling in an attempt to reduce their harmful impact on climate.
The recommendation by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) came in a report that aims to address conflicting efforts to restore the ozone layer agreed 18 years ago, and more recent measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Chemicals used to replace substances harmful to the Earth's protective ozone layer in products like refrigerators under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, as well as the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) they substituted, are greenhouse gases that many scientists say cause climate change.
The reports says many of these chemicals are regarded as far more powerful than carbon dioxide, whose emissions are the focus of cuts under the Kyoto Protocol climate change treaty, which came into force in February.
"There can be no trade-offs between saving the ozone layer and minimising climate change," says Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the UN environmental agency UNEP.”
So they have us in a catch-22 here. They say that we have to do something to fix the Ozone Layer, that what we have done so far has been ineffective or might have been harmful (even though they told us to do it,) and that whatever we do in the future has to be done in a manner that will not further contribute to Global Warming.
I have some news for you folks…
HUMAN ACTIVITIES HAVE VIRTUALLY NO EFFECT ON THE OZONE LAYER.
It is the ultimate arrogance to believe that we can control the dynamics of the earth’s atmosphere. If we could accomplish such feats, we should get busy stopping tornadoes and hurricanes and start a little rain falling in Saharan Africa.
With that thought in mind, look at what these scientists are saying about the influence of the Sun on the Ozone Layer:
“The gigantic solar storms of November 2003 severely depleted the ozone layer above the Arctic for as long as eight months, suggest newly released satellite observations. Ozone levels had reduced to just 40% of normal spring levels in 2004.
"We have never seen ozone close to this level in the northern hemisphere," says Cora Randall, a researcher with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, US, and one of the study team.
Ozone in Earth's stratosphere protects the planet against harmful ultraviolet radiation. Most of the gas lies in the lower- and mid-stratosphere, where observations have shown a thinning above the poles caused mainly by man-made chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
Now, Randall and her team have used seven satellites to study ozone in the upper region of the stratosphere, which contains about one-fifth of the stratosphere's supply and lies at an altitude of about 40 kilometres. Their observations show that nature can mimic manmade damage by increasing levels of nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere, which lead to the breakdown of ozone.”
So, I ask you—who are you going to believe? What are you going to believe? They can’t make up their minds what to tell us…the sun did it…no, wait, it is a man-made problem.
I am so tired of the United Nations and the self proclaimed “environmentalists” using inadequate data to scare old people and children and pass unnecessary laws and treaties designed to regulate my life.
These people DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT.
We didn’t even know that the ozone layer existed until the 1900’s and we had no way to measure it until we launched some satellites the late 1970’s. As a result, how can they tell us anything except what has been happening over the past 30 years? Suppose that the ozone layer was non existent in the 1400’s or that it was twice as dense in the 1700’s?
How in God’s name can these overeducated pseudo-scientists at the UN tell us that human activity since the industrial revolution or that our activities here in America since the age of the automobile and fossil fuel has one single thing to do with the Ozone layer?
Just like we can’t control volcanic eruptions that have possibly contributed to the 1 degree global temperature rise over the past 100 years, we most definitely can’t tell the Sun to stop having sunspots and shooting solar flares.
Do you understand where I’m coming from?
Any time the UN starts talking about the environment, you better hold onto your wallet or purse because changes are likely coming as a result of their astute misconceptions that will ultimately cost Americans money.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the renowned champions of the Earth’s arch enemy--Global Warming, just released their newest report entitled ”Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System: Issues Relating to Hydrofluorocarbons and Perfluorocarbons.”
Now don’t let your eyes glaze over with hydro-technico-mumbo-jumbo here. I’m going to keep this discussion simple.
You remember the Ozone Layer, don’t you? You know—Ozone—the stuff that resides way up high in the atmosphere and that is supposed to protect the Earth from excess solar radiation and prevent us from all getting skin cancer. Yeah, that’s right—O-Z-O-N-E.
Ozone was the number one climate issue that the “experts” and the media instructed school children and adults alike to worry about back in the 1980’s before they had Global Warming to toss out on the world environmental stage to spark the guilt of all of us evil capitalists.
Subsequent to the UN holding a conference in Vienna, Italy in 1985 and another in Montreal Canada in 1987, the UN adopted and the United States ratified the Montreal Protocol Treaty. In short, this agreement caused everyone here in the US to change the type of refrigerant used in their car air conditioners, changed the kind of aerosol propellants used in hairspray and deodorant, and made expensive, intrusive changes in industries like insulation and foam manufacturers—all in the name of “protecting the Ozone Layer.”
Eighteen years after the fact, the IPCC is still screwing around making recommendations and reviewing their progress and guess what they have found and reported? Some of the things they asked us to do apparently have had absolutely no effect on the Ozone layer and some may have had an adverse effect.
That is, if you happen to believe that anything that humans do actually has any affect at all on the amount of Ozone in the Stratosphere.
AP-France has this to say about the report:
“International scientists have called for more cuts in the chemicals used in refrigerators, air conditioning units and plastic foams, and better recycling in an attempt to reduce their harmful impact on climate.
The recommendation by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) came in a report that aims to address conflicting efforts to restore the ozone layer agreed 18 years ago, and more recent measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Chemicals used to replace substances harmful to the Earth's protective ozone layer in products like refrigerators under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, as well as the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) they substituted, are greenhouse gases that many scientists say cause climate change.
The reports says many of these chemicals are regarded as far more powerful than carbon dioxide, whose emissions are the focus of cuts under the Kyoto Protocol climate change treaty, which came into force in February.
"There can be no trade-offs between saving the ozone layer and minimising climate change," says Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the UN environmental agency UNEP.”
So they have us in a catch-22 here. They say that we have to do something to fix the Ozone Layer, that what we have done so far has been ineffective or might have been harmful (even though they told us to do it,) and that whatever we do in the future has to be done in a manner that will not further contribute to Global Warming.
I have some news for you folks…
HUMAN ACTIVITIES HAVE VIRTUALLY NO EFFECT ON THE OZONE LAYER.
It is the ultimate arrogance to believe that we can control the dynamics of the earth’s atmosphere. If we could accomplish such feats, we should get busy stopping tornadoes and hurricanes and start a little rain falling in Saharan Africa.
With that thought in mind, look at what these scientists are saying about the influence of the Sun on the Ozone Layer:
“The gigantic solar storms of November 2003 severely depleted the ozone layer above the Arctic for as long as eight months, suggest newly released satellite observations. Ozone levels had reduced to just 40% of normal spring levels in 2004.
"We have never seen ozone close to this level in the northern hemisphere," says Cora Randall, a researcher with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, US, and one of the study team.
Ozone in Earth's stratosphere protects the planet against harmful ultraviolet radiation. Most of the gas lies in the lower- and mid-stratosphere, where observations have shown a thinning above the poles caused mainly by man-made chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
Now, Randall and her team have used seven satellites to study ozone in the upper region of the stratosphere, which contains about one-fifth of the stratosphere's supply and lies at an altitude of about 40 kilometres. Their observations show that nature can mimic manmade damage by increasing levels of nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere, which lead to the breakdown of ozone.”
So, I ask you—who are you going to believe? What are you going to believe? They can’t make up their minds what to tell us…the sun did it…no, wait, it is a man-made problem.
I am so tired of the United Nations and the self proclaimed “environmentalists” using inadequate data to scare old people and children and pass unnecessary laws and treaties designed to regulate my life.
These people DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT.
We didn’t even know that the ozone layer existed until the 1900’s and we had no way to measure it until we launched some satellites the late 1970’s. As a result, how can they tell us anything except what has been happening over the past 30 years? Suppose that the ozone layer was non existent in the 1400’s or that it was twice as dense in the 1700’s?
How in God’s name can these overeducated pseudo-scientists at the UN tell us that human activity since the industrial revolution or that our activities here in America since the age of the automobile and fossil fuel has one single thing to do with the Ozone layer?
Just like we can’t control volcanic eruptions that have possibly contributed to the 1 degree global temperature rise over the past 100 years, we most definitely can’t tell the Sun to stop having sunspots and shooting solar flares.
Do you understand where I’m coming from?
Sunday, April 17, 2005
More Environmental Insanity
(Boring local news)
Like many coastal areas of the United States, Glynn County Georgia was historically an attractive location for industries like paper mills and chemical plants which built facillities here in the early 1900’s. Cheep land and abundant sources of water, along with local government’s willing to “sell their souls to the devil” provided ample tax breaks in return for the many high paying jobs offered to the citizens of the formerly rural, mostly agricultural and fishing based communities like the city of Brunswick.
The bad news is that these new industries were not good stewards of our lands and waterways—dumping tons of toxic chemicals like dioxin, PCB’s and industrial solvents into the environment.
Basically, depending on your definition of what is toxic waste, the entire area of Glynn County can be considered as a low level toxic waste dump. Everyone that has lived here for any length of time knows this fact, which is why I am so amazed at this story in The Brunswick News.
“Students at Goodyear Elementary School won't be spending any more playtime on the school grounds this April and May.
A federal government report raising questions about the possible presence of toxic chemicals in the soil around Goodyear has prompted school officials to confine physical education activities to the gymnasium and a public park on Parkwood Drive, about a half-mile from the school.
The decision to abandon the playground comes after elevated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, large quantities of which may lead to cancer, were discovered in the soil at the school, located at the corner of Parkwood Drive and U.S. Highway 17. A precise source of the chemicals was not identified.
The playground will be closed as a precautionary measure until further tests are performed on the soil, said Jim Weidhaas, public information director for Glynn County's schools. More testing will likely be conducted during summer break, he said.
The decision to keep students inside was made this week by interim school superintendent Delacy Sanford and Goodyear Principal Carla Hall.
It follows a recently released report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency For Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which characterizes Goodyear Elementary as an "indeterminate public health hazard." The report is based on analysis of soil testing performed in 2002”
Now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not proposing that we allow the school kids to play in a soup of toxic waste, but let’s look at the details of this story.
In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency came in and sampled the dirt in the playground. Almost three years later, when they finally get around to reporting their findings of “an indeterminate public health hazard,” the school officials loose their minds and close the playground until “further testing” can be done.
If further testing is so darned important, why doesn’t the EPA jump in and do it now? If it is imperative that the kids be protected, why doesn’t the School Board pay for independent testing now rather than waiting until this summer? I bet that they could have the results back in ten days. The kids have been playing on the renovated playground since 1997, so what difference is two months going to actually make in the big picture?
And what was the offending chemical agent the EPA found? Something called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH.) According to the ATSDR web site, PAH’s are actually more than one chemical.
“Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of over 100 different chemicals that are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil and gas, garbage, or other organic substances like tobacco or charbroiled meat. PAHs are usually found as a mixture containing two or more of these compounds, such as soot.
Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons usually occurs by breathing air contaminated by wild fires or coal tar, or by eating foods that have been grilled. PAHs have been found in at least 600 of the 1,430 National Priorities List sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”
Notice that the emphasis is on ingestion through the air? We found PAH’s in our playground dirt. So what is the big deal? Are the kids out their eating the dirt? I guess that some might—but I suspect that there is more bird and cat poop in the dirt than PAH’s so the little dirt hog will probably die of E. Colli before the PAH’s get them.
It would also appear that PAH’s are not necessiarly man made, but instead occur as a natural form of “background pollution,” since the ATSDR web site says:
“PAHs enter the air mostly as releases from volcanoes, forest fires, burning coal, and automobile exhaust.”
PHA’s have been in the news before. Remember a few years ago when we were told by the media that I was going to die from using my Weber Kettle Charcoal grill?
Now even some grill manufacturers are getting in on the scare tactics:
“Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) such as Pyrene and Benzopyrene are known carcinogens. They are formed when burning charcoal (in the case of charcoal grills) and by the combustion of grease and oils in flames. Paula Davis McCallum, M.S., R.D., L.D. from the Cleveland Clinic states that, "fat that drips from grilled meats causes smoke to rise from the coals, wood chips, heating elements, and/or flames. The smoke coming in contact with the food can be carcinogenic. Therefore, use foil or a pan to catch the drippings and help eliminate the smoke during grilling." These PAHs are contained in the black smoke produced by grease dripping into and igniting in the flames of a gas barbecue grill. Not all smoke contains PAH. The white smoke produced when grease vaporizes without flames does not contain PAH.”
You know what? I’m still a charcoal grill man no matter what they say. I hate propane.
So any way, my point here is this...
How about using a little BALANCE AND JUDGMENT, People?
Don’t respond with hysteria and knee jerk reactions to newspaper storys and EPA reports. The EPA took almost three years to get the testing done, so closing the playground isn’t the worst idea in the world, but getting the testing done next week and verifying if there is a problem would be an even better solution in my opinion.
Like many coastal areas of the United States, Glynn County Georgia was historically an attractive location for industries like paper mills and chemical plants which built facillities here in the early 1900’s. Cheep land and abundant sources of water, along with local government’s willing to “sell their souls to the devil” provided ample tax breaks in return for the many high paying jobs offered to the citizens of the formerly rural, mostly agricultural and fishing based communities like the city of Brunswick.
The bad news is that these new industries were not good stewards of our lands and waterways—dumping tons of toxic chemicals like dioxin, PCB’s and industrial solvents into the environment.
Basically, depending on your definition of what is toxic waste, the entire area of Glynn County can be considered as a low level toxic waste dump. Everyone that has lived here for any length of time knows this fact, which is why I am so amazed at this story in The Brunswick News.
“Students at Goodyear Elementary School won't be spending any more playtime on the school grounds this April and May.
A federal government report raising questions about the possible presence of toxic chemicals in the soil around Goodyear has prompted school officials to confine physical education activities to the gymnasium and a public park on Parkwood Drive, about a half-mile from the school.
The decision to abandon the playground comes after elevated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, large quantities of which may lead to cancer, were discovered in the soil at the school, located at the corner of Parkwood Drive and U.S. Highway 17. A precise source of the chemicals was not identified.
The playground will be closed as a precautionary measure until further tests are performed on the soil, said Jim Weidhaas, public information director for Glynn County's schools. More testing will likely be conducted during summer break, he said.
The decision to keep students inside was made this week by interim school superintendent Delacy Sanford and Goodyear Principal Carla Hall.
It follows a recently released report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency For Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which characterizes Goodyear Elementary as an "indeterminate public health hazard." The report is based on analysis of soil testing performed in 2002”
Now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not proposing that we allow the school kids to play in a soup of toxic waste, but let’s look at the details of this story.
In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency came in and sampled the dirt in the playground. Almost three years later, when they finally get around to reporting their findings of “an indeterminate public health hazard,” the school officials loose their minds and close the playground until “further testing” can be done.
If further testing is so darned important, why doesn’t the EPA jump in and do it now? If it is imperative that the kids be protected, why doesn’t the School Board pay for independent testing now rather than waiting until this summer? I bet that they could have the results back in ten days. The kids have been playing on the renovated playground since 1997, so what difference is two months going to actually make in the big picture?
And what was the offending chemical agent the EPA found? Something called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH.) According to the ATSDR web site, PAH’s are actually more than one chemical.
“Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of over 100 different chemicals that are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil and gas, garbage, or other organic substances like tobacco or charbroiled meat. PAHs are usually found as a mixture containing two or more of these compounds, such as soot.
Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons usually occurs by breathing air contaminated by wild fires or coal tar, or by eating foods that have been grilled. PAHs have been found in at least 600 of the 1,430 National Priorities List sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”
Notice that the emphasis is on ingestion through the air? We found PAH’s in our playground dirt. So what is the big deal? Are the kids out their eating the dirt? I guess that some might—but I suspect that there is more bird and cat poop in the dirt than PAH’s so the little dirt hog will probably die of E. Colli before the PAH’s get them.
It would also appear that PAH’s are not necessiarly man made, but instead occur as a natural form of “background pollution,” since the ATSDR web site says:
“PAHs enter the air mostly as releases from volcanoes, forest fires, burning coal, and automobile exhaust.”
PHA’s have been in the news before. Remember a few years ago when we were told by the media that I was going to die from using my Weber Kettle Charcoal grill?
Now even some grill manufacturers are getting in on the scare tactics:
“Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) such as Pyrene and Benzopyrene are known carcinogens. They are formed when burning charcoal (in the case of charcoal grills) and by the combustion of grease and oils in flames. Paula Davis McCallum, M.S., R.D., L.D. from the Cleveland Clinic states that, "fat that drips from grilled meats causes smoke to rise from the coals, wood chips, heating elements, and/or flames. The smoke coming in contact with the food can be carcinogenic. Therefore, use foil or a pan to catch the drippings and help eliminate the smoke during grilling." These PAHs are contained in the black smoke produced by grease dripping into and igniting in the flames of a gas barbecue grill. Not all smoke contains PAH. The white smoke produced when grease vaporizes without flames does not contain PAH.”
You know what? I’m still a charcoal grill man no matter what they say. I hate propane.
So any way, my point here is this...
How about using a little BALANCE AND JUDGMENT, People?
Don’t respond with hysteria and knee jerk reactions to newspaper storys and EPA reports. The EPA took almost three years to get the testing done, so closing the playground isn’t the worst idea in the world, but getting the testing done next week and verifying if there is a problem would be an even better solution in my opinion.
A New Direction
Since I started writing my blog in mid-August last year, I have rarely chosen to risk boring my national and international readers (yes, I know that you are out there hiding in Europe, Asia, and other points unknown), beyond my normal level of every-day boredom, with stories about local news from here in our tiny little part of this planet called Glynn County Georgia.
You should not assume, however, that I do not have an active life on St. Simons Island reading the local news, flapping my gums and pounding the keyboard about some incredibly stupid and petty local issues that until recently seemed unworthy of commenting about in my blogs.
The local newspaper, The Brunswick News, just published my sixth editorial last week in their letters to the editor section. I’m proud to say that they’ve only rejected two of my writings so far.
There are most definitely some serious issues which are, in my opinion, inadequately addressed. Our local media consists of one major print newspaper, a couple of second tier print rags full of coupons and ads, and a couple of radio stations. Oh, and did I mention that our local TV broadcasts come from Jacksonville, Florida and Savannah, Georgia—each city at least an hour away by automobile? I guess that you get my point.
My commentary about local issues online is about to change with the introduction of a new, yet to be named, local issues blog, but rest assured that this blog, “What I’d Liked To Have Said,” is going to continue forward as a national political/current events forum until the last reader drops off of the internet.
Thank you so much for your support thus far.
The reason that I’m starting the local blog is that I see a “niche” market for news analysis and commentary that is not being fulfilled in the current publications. The Brunswick News tends to be centrist-to-conservative in editorial content, but their coverage of the details of the local politics seems to be a bit on the side of “milk toast” while being guilty of publicly smirking at the details of the stories that they print.
I think that they like to print some of my rants every now and then because I can make a lucid argument for moving our local government and school board forward a few steps while the elected officials are all tumbling down the hill head over heels backwards. I believe that they secretly agree with most of what I say, they just don’t have the guts to say what I say in writing so they let me do it.
The “freebie” alternative papers are another story entirely. They typically have the standard liberal/rabid-barking-moon-bat conspiracy slants with little factual content to back up their arguments. Lots of blaa, blaa, blaaaaa, blaa, blaaa, blaa, blaa.
Can you say preaching to the ill informed, liberal masses? B-o-r-i-n-g…
So stay tuned and you might see some interesting stuff, originally reported, as I attend city council and school board meetings, and aim my pencil and “big stick” at the insanity around my home here on the Georgia Coast.
You'll be the first to find out about my new efforts and I hope that you will enjoy following my new adventures in blogging.
Regards Y’all
You should not assume, however, that I do not have an active life on St. Simons Island reading the local news, flapping my gums and pounding the keyboard about some incredibly stupid and petty local issues that until recently seemed unworthy of commenting about in my blogs.
The local newspaper, The Brunswick News, just published my sixth editorial last week in their letters to the editor section. I’m proud to say that they’ve only rejected two of my writings so far.
There are most definitely some serious issues which are, in my opinion, inadequately addressed. Our local media consists of one major print newspaper, a couple of second tier print rags full of coupons and ads, and a couple of radio stations. Oh, and did I mention that our local TV broadcasts come from Jacksonville, Florida and Savannah, Georgia—each city at least an hour away by automobile? I guess that you get my point.
My commentary about local issues online is about to change with the introduction of a new, yet to be named, local issues blog, but rest assured that this blog, “What I’d Liked To Have Said,” is going to continue forward as a national political/current events forum until the last reader drops off of the internet.
Thank you so much for your support thus far.
The reason that I’m starting the local blog is that I see a “niche” market for news analysis and commentary that is not being fulfilled in the current publications. The Brunswick News tends to be centrist-to-conservative in editorial content, but their coverage of the details of the local politics seems to be a bit on the side of “milk toast” while being guilty of publicly smirking at the details of the stories that they print.
I think that they like to print some of my rants every now and then because I can make a lucid argument for moving our local government and school board forward a few steps while the elected officials are all tumbling down the hill head over heels backwards. I believe that they secretly agree with most of what I say, they just don’t have the guts to say what I say in writing so they let me do it.
The “freebie” alternative papers are another story entirely. They typically have the standard liberal/rabid-barking-moon-bat conspiracy slants with little factual content to back up their arguments. Lots of blaa, blaa, blaaaaa, blaa, blaaa, blaa, blaa.
Can you say preaching to the ill informed, liberal masses? B-o-r-i-n-g…
So stay tuned and you might see some interesting stuff, originally reported, as I attend city council and school board meetings, and aim my pencil and “big stick” at the insanity around my home here on the Georgia Coast.
You'll be the first to find out about my new efforts and I hope that you will enjoy following my new adventures in blogging.
Regards Y’all
