China 0

I am officially boycotting China. I will no longer knowingly purchase any goods manufactured there including plastics, foods, clothing, cosmetics, anything. And yes, this is going to be a difficult boycott. I will also be boycotting the summer Olympic Games to be held in Beijing. What's the deal, you ask? I'm so glad you did.

First, China is the chief weapons provider, diplomatic sponsor and largest foreign investor and trade partner to Sudan. The Sudanese government, as I'm sure many of my readers are well aware, is responsible for abominable acts of genocide in Darfur. And yet China continues to strengthen its economic and military ties with Sudan when the Chinese government, single-handedly, has more power than any other nation to convince the Sudanese government to halt the slaughter and stop blocking UN Peacekeepers. China must act to end the genocide in Sudan.

Second, unless you were on another planet, you have heard about the extensive recall of tainted pet foods that originated in China. While the country does appear to be making progress on this particular issue, I can't help but feel that it's only because it has blown up to be such a disgusting mess. It has been widely reported that Chinese manufacturer’s frequently evade US border standards trying to push the same contaminated shipment into the US from several different entry points after being turned away. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. They take that advice to heart - KNOWING that they are breaking the law and endangering lives.

Third, China's blistering economic and industrial growth is having potentially irreversible impacts on the global environment. Everything is dirty. Seriously. Air and water supplies are so foul that a health crisis in that country is impending. And it won't stay "over there" for long. China's environmental problem is OUR environmental problem - we must require them to do more.

I'm sure you remember all the "Axis of Evil" BS spun by the President during his 2002 State of the Union address. While I don't allow myself to use the word "Evil", I certainly feel that China is contributing more than its fair share of negative vibes into the planet's ethos. For that, I give you NO STARS, China. No love. No money. Get your shit together.

Midwest Airlines ***1/2

Already this year, I have flown Midwest Airlines three times. Once cross-country to San Francisco, another time to Omaha for my father's 80th birthday, and just recently this week to Ohio for work. Last year, I flew the airline a handful of times. While flying Midwest isn't always the easiest way to get from point a to point b, there are many reasons why I opt to ride on this budget-friendly carrier over the big competitors.

First, the seats. My goodness do I leave their seats. And boy do I appreciate their seats even more after I've had to endure other airliner seats. What's so great about them, you ask? All of Midwest is First Class. Seriously. Those big comfy leather chairs that they always parade us economy types past en route to the cramped, blood-clot inducing seats that we have to stuff our bodies into. Midwest is comfy-cozy big leather seats all the way. You can almost hear the wave of sighs filter down the plane as passengers take their seats.

Second, homemade chocolate chip cookies baked in-flight and delivered to you warm. 'Nuff said. The gooey-ness speaks for its self.

Third, the prices are incredibly reasonable. When you take the above mentioned perks into account you would be a fool to fly any other way. Which is why, on a recent trip to Columbus, Ohio, upon learning that there was no direct flight available, I decided it was totally worth it to route my trip through Milwaukee.

So, check 'em out the next time you travel this great country of ours - it appears the airlines is doing well as they add new stops every day it seems. I hope the trend continues, the other guys could learn a lot from the simple and cost-effective luxury. Three and a half out of four stars. If only they gave free meals...or booze...then I'd be totally sold!!

Botalcura La Porfia Carmenere 2003 ***1/2

I am drinking a lovely glass of red wine.

At this very moment.



Yum.

I stumbled on this by accident at my local wine shop after a tough day at the office. It was an impulse purchase at the price of $12, but I'm oh so happy that the impulse came.

I'm a big fan of wine, but rather picky when it comes to red wine and I'm most schooled, really, in American red wine, which means tasty cabernets or zinfindels from California and an occasional dabble into French wines (though I find them particularly intimidating). This particular bottle of tastiness in which I am partaking hails from the Curico Valley of Chile. Having enjoyed some Chilean reds in the past, and being attracted by the label (yes...I'm one of those people...a pretty label never hurt anyone), and the 2005 Silver Award from the International Wine and Spirits Competition in tandem with the inexpensive price tag called me to just go for it.

Upon the pour, your glass is drenched in a lovely garnet color. On the swirl, there are a few legs left clinging to your glass, but not enough to cause concern for syrupy-ness. The nose is complex and aromatic. You can definitely smell some cherry to start with a full earthy depth to follow. Honestly, to me, it smells a bit like a super clean barn out in the country - maybe after a rain - very fresh, clean, and natural. When tasting, the cherry and berry hits you first, followed by something smokey like tobacco with a vanilla finish. The finish, in my opinion, is the best part. It lingers with you but does not turn sour nor astringent. Very smooth. Very tasty.

At this price, how can you really resist, and who hasn't wanted to visit Chile? I won't lie, I've had better reds, but this one is pretty amazing for the price tag without feeling or tasting cheap or mass produced. Three-and-a-half stars. Check it out. It would be great to share on a date.

Karl Rove vs. Sheryl Crow/Laurie David ****

Did you hear about this one?

The annual White House Correspondents Dinner was held weekend before last. This is as close as Washington gets to celebrity with politicos rubbing elbows with some of the Hollywood elite. There's usually a roasting of the President which is always fun, but it's all pretty G rated, and one of the few events where the Powers That Be in Washington can meet in the aisle and have a good laugh.

But Karl Rove was NOT laughing this year.

Apparantly, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., it went down like this.

The Dynamic Environmental Duo Sheryl Crow and Laurie David were in town on their bio-diesel cross-country tour. While at the dinner, the women attempted to chide Rove into a friendly environmental discussion. They were charming. He was rude. Rumors are flying that he literally spat on them. He turned his back on them and walked away.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

As Kennedy said, "It was a very strange thing to watch, and a sad thing to think the government is being run by, you know, somebody like that."

HERE, here!

And might I say, so typical of many conservatives on this issue. I hiss at you.

So, Sheryl and Laurie, four stars to you for approaching this monsterously pathetic excuse for a man and trying to have a charming discussion with him. For attempting to educate him, or heaven forbid, engage in public debate. And four stars to your bio diesel tour. And four stars for the minnimal toilet paper usage, Sheryl, but may I ask, how often do you flush???

Let it Mellow **

You know the saying, right? If it's yellow, let it mellow...if it's brown, flush it down"? That's right, readers, today's post is not something you'd necessarily want to read during your lunch break, and it's not for those who are uncomfortable with bodily functions. So if you fall into those categories, maybe skip this one. If not, read on because I'm talking about pee, poop and toilets today, my friends.

Did you know that the largest water user in our homes is the toilet? If you have an "antique" toilet that pre-dates 1980, then you might be flushing as many as 5-7 gallons of water each time you flush. Later models aren't necessarily much better using around 1.6 gallons of water per flush. In addition, about 50% of toilets have leaks - either the toilet is running, which you can often hear, and means that water is leaking into the bowl from the tank. And some pesky leaks can be silent. These leaks can account for 15 gallons of wasted water per day, which equates to 5,475 gallons per year.

To make your porcelain throne a bit more eco-friendly, first check for a leak. You can do this easily enough with food coloring. Put a dye tablet or food coloring in the water tank. If color appears in the bowl without flushing, then you have a leak that needs repairing.

But you don't have to stop there.

Let's say you have unloaded your old circa 1980 toilet and installed a new low-flush toilet yielding 1.6 gallons of water per flush. And let's say you "go" an average of 9 times a day. That's 14.4 gallons of water a day, or 100.8 gallons of water a week or 403.2 gallons of water a month or 4,838.4 gallons of water a year - give or take a few. That is a whole lot of water. Enough water, in fact, for a small shark tank at an aquarium. Literally. The aquarium pictured above is a mere 4,000 gallon tank.

What can you do, you ask?

Don't flush as much. Now, I'm talking toilet exclusively. There are a lot of other things you can do in your home to conserve water, so I do understand that this sounds a bit extreme. But do you really need to flush that often? I mean, once it's in the bowl, it's not really going anywhere is it? Especially with the lid down. Now, this is not always "polite". I wouldn't reccommend following the "let yellow mellow" rule at your friend's house, or at work. Obviously, there are limits. But at home, when it's just family, why the heck not? After all, it was good enough for the Fockers.

I give the idea two out of four stars because it's kind of crazy liberal, and not exactly water cooler talk, but give it a shot! I won't tell anyone. And go easy on the toilet paper while you're at it.

Shopping Bag Ban ****

This week, in my environmental post, I'm quite certain that I'm going to make a couple of people mad. Maybe not. Maybe I judge. We'll see...

I fully support San Francisco's ban on shopping bags. Furthermore, I support IKEA's decision to charge customer's five cents for each plastic bag they use.

There, I said it.

As a gen-x-er, I grew up with the plastic bag. My adolescence took place during the 1980's "me" generation and Reaganomics. CONSUME. BUY. SPEND. The world revolves around ME. Put your career before your family. Rape the earth...okay, that's another blog...don't get me started on the baby boomers, we'll all regret it. I digress. What I'm trying to say is that for as long as I remember the plastic bag (sometimes paper) at the check-out counter has always been a given. A free takeaway for your purchase. To make your life easier. As if your life is really that hard to begin with. I mean, those 50 steps out to your car can be pretty tough, for sure. And while I know they implemented this whole "bring your own bag" idea in Europe eons ago, it's sadly a new and fresh idea for me and most Americans.

Unfortunately, many Americans don't like it. I say, stop being so lazy and selfish. Bring your own bag, man!!

It takes over 400,000 gallons of oil to manufacture 100 million bags. That's right. Oil. Plastic bags are petroleum based products. Ponder that the next time you complain about gas prices. But I hear the counter argument already, "You can recycle the plastic bag". Yes, true to a point, although the energy and CO2 emissions needed for the creation and recreation of this crap is yet another reason to just say no.

Here's what I say, and forgive me if it sounds sexist. Women in particular need to embrace this thing and run with it. Now is the time to buy dozens of cute canvas bags for your shopping and explain to your husband/boyfriend/parent/significant other that it's just your way of saving the world. One bag at a time.

Four out of four stars for this idea. Try embracing it. It could make a huge difference.

VA Tech Tragedy and The Media **1/2

Yesterday was a terrible day, wasn't it? I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't hear the unsettling news of the happenings that occurred at Virginia Tech yesterday until the early afternoon when my office-mate mentioned something about it. The campus of this school is a mere four hours from DC and I was surprised I hadn't heard a mention of the incident earlier. I went to CNN.com and sought out the information. The Who, What, When, Where and, my God, Why? At this point, the Associated Press was reporting 31 people were dead, and 28 injured. I could not wrap my head around it.

Several colleagues and I gathered in a conference room for a conference call and while we waited, we tuned in the television to hear some more of the story. Seeking answers like everyone else. I was disturbed at the images that were shown to us over and over again. The constant replaying of footage of a large spattering of blood on the walkway was one such image.

This morning I found it impossible to read through everything that was printed in The Washington Post. The articles were difficult enough to stomach because of the whole tragedy of the situation, but the pictures took it to a different place - and I'm not certain that we needed to go there.

As Americans I worry that the media desensitizes us. Admittedly, I have little to no reaction when I hear of our soldier's death toll in Iraq every night on the evening news. In the daily paper I see images of suicide bombings, the carnage of war, and I move on to read my horoscope without so much as a pause. But it's different when it's so close to home, isn't it? I still tear up when I see images of the World Trade Center on 9/11.

And yet.

As someone who hopes to be a parent someday, I can't help but feel that if my child made it out of that terrible scene yesterday alive, I wouldn't want them to be immortalized in the national news in pictures such as these.
There's a fine line, isn't there, between reporting the news to keep the nation informed and propagating anxiety and fear at the expense of the victims of such a terrifying event. I am uncertain where that line lies. I do have a gut reaction when it has been crossed. I felt that yesterday. The news was alarming enough without the illustration. By constantly bombarding the public with images like these on a regular basis I fear the media aids in the erosion of our humanity. For that, I give their coverageof yesterday's events two-and-a-half stars. I appreciate the reporting; but there really can be such a thing as too much information.

On a personal note. I don't know anyone who attends Virginia Tech. My heart goes out to the families and students who are grieving their loved ones. You are in my thoughts.