In an erie twist, like the television show "Lost", I have been forced to push a button every half hour to prevent myself from freezing to death.  Our forced air heater fan stops blowing after about 1/2 hour of normal behavior.  I originally thought that the problem was due to the thermostat, which has also been acting erratically.  So I bought a new one, and the same thing happened.  After 1/2 hour the fan stops blowing I can hear a droning sound coming from the unit.

Because it's Sunday and I don't want to pay the extra fee associated with an emergency call, I have not called a repair person.  So I rise from my couch every half hour to turn the unit off, and then switch the fan on.  After the fan runs for awhile I am able to start the unit up again, and it blows hot air for about 1/2 hour.

I have come to accept my new role...

Update:  On Monday the repair person diagnosed the problem as a clogged Drip leg which he cleaned out.  Our heater is working normally and I am attempting to adapt to my freedom.

 

Our family went to Frederick Meijer Gardens for Valentines day.  We had a delicious dinner and then got an early peek at the butterflies that are just emerging from their chrysalis.  On the window sat a translucent butterfly that had just finished its metamorphasis.  It was dusk outside and the natural lack of light in the tropical conservatory made for a dark and mysterious adventure.  I took this picture with a flash and the reflection on the window was a pleasant surprise.

This is some great music with an even greater purpose:

iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=121054236

From the In the Sun Foundation website:

In the sun foundation.org is the home of a very special project launched by R.E.M.'s lead singer, Michael Stipe, in response to the ongoing hardship experienced by thousands of residents of the Gulf Coast. More than five months later, many are still displaced by the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with no relief imminent, and yet, the news cycle has moved on, taking our focus, as a nation, away from something which still should be at the center of our attention. In this spirit, Stipe felt moved to join others who have remained dedicated to the cause, reminding the public in his own way, through music, that there is still an incredible amount of work to be done: "Things are not fine. The storm is still impacting people's lives in very real ways and many have been left desperate.   I want to remind each of us that as humans, and certainly as Americans, it is our responsibility to help those in need... I had to do something as a public figure. The one thing I can do is sing, and it's probably the best way to get people to pay attention.

All proceeds from this project go to MercyCorps.

My town of East Grand Rapids has made the national news lately.  First, Reeds Lake neighbors convinced East Grand Rapids city leaders to keep a newly constructed home off the Parade of Homes:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10897265/

Might this be the first time that a Parade home has been turned away from a neighborhood?  One of the neighbors was quoted as saying that the parade would draw a "criminal element" to her neighborhood.

And this week a few dozen of our high school students were reprimanded after some parents discovered photos of underage drinking on their blogs:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/08/tech/main1296738.shtml

It's not easy being portrayed by the media as snobby and drunk.  Most of us who live here are neither, and the community is more diverse than other affluent suburbs in West Michigan.  The culture in EGR is totally focused around schools and family, which helps explain my take on the common thread between the two news makers listed above:  Parental concern about childrens safety.

Speaking from experience, the overwhelming urge that parents feel to keep their children safe is incredible.  It makes you crazy, and then causes you to adopt parental behaviors that you always despised as a teenager.  It is true, EGR is not perfect, but we are doing the best we can to raise our children in a safe and healthy environment.

I say we boycott the major college bowl games until they bring them back to New Years day.  Spread the word -- take back the tradition of New Years day and college football!

It was Christmas Eve, and I was tracking Santa Clause with my six year old son on Google Earth. Santa's sleigh bounced between small European towns as midnight approached.

"Santa is coming", his tired and grouchy dad said. "You should think about getting to bed".
The boy was not tired, the boy would not budge.
"But he's still in the Ukraine", he said with a grudge.
Instead of threatening and yelling and such, Santa thought of a jollier touch.
He made that boy feel like a giant, by contacting him through a messaging client:
"Merry Christmas, it's Santa", the box on the screen did say.
"I'm talking to you on the computer today".
The boy at his desktop was excited that night.
Santa's message had caused him delight.
"Go to bed right now", Santa said in good cheer.
"Your parents are tired and Christmas is here."
Off to bed the boy went, not stopping to wander,
as Santa sat clicking the mouse over yonder.

Bill Gates has given more to charity than any human being in history.  Bono leveraged his celebrity status to entice the leaders of our richest nations to forgive $50 Billion in debt to poor countries.  I wonder how many lives they have saved through their actions?

"For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow..."

"These are not the people you expect to come to the rescue. Rock stars are designed to be shiny, shallow creatures, furloughed from reality for all time. Billionaires are even more removed, nestled atop fantastic wealth where they never again have to place their own calls or defrost dinner or fly commercial"

Link

The Point Paulo resort was located in East Grand Rapids, along the shores of Reeds Lake. The Marx Brothers, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, George Burns, Will Rogers, Morton Downey, and Walter Winchell stayed there, along with Buster Keaton, Fanny Brice, and many others. Several of the stars of the Vaudeville tour called Reeds Lake and the Ramona Theatre their favorite stop on the Orpheum Theatre circuit, primarily because of the beautiful resort on Reeds lake known as Point Paulo.

For the past few years I've managed a small Website that outlines the resort.  My wife came up with a great idea:  Why not make the PointPaulo.com into a Wiki?

Voila

If I was living a life of leisure, without the responsibilities of work and family, I would certainly be a video game addict.  So I wasn't surprised when my son took an early liking to video games (played on our home PC).  How much is too much?

Steven Johnson makes a compelling arguement for the possibility that video games are making us more intelligent.  While I await the arrival of his book, which is on order from the library, I have been observing more closely the interaction of my 6 year old son and his computer.  It does seem that he is engaging in some very difficult cognitive tasks as he battles with Darth Sidious and Professor Dumbledore.

Ten-year-old Arfa Karim Randhawa of Pakistan is believed to be the youngest person in the world to have earned Microsoft Certified Professional status.  She actually has her MCAD, which involves passing more than one of the very difficult exams required for certification.

Link

Human-primate chimeras are genetically engineered animals that contain both human and primate genes.  Apparently there is some controversy surrounding this possibility. 

Link

If you are a middle class (or higher) American you live better than 99.4% of all the people who have ever lived, including those that are alive right now. This is according to Greg Easterbrook in his book "The Progress Paradox".  Apparently there have been approximately 80 billion people who have lived on earth until now.  Most of them lived without refrigerators, air conditioning, computers, great big television sets, high tech health care, and cell phones.

In fact, half of the worlds current population lives on less than two dollars a day (in US dollars).  That's 3 billion people living on a little over $700 a year, if they are lucky.  1.3 billion of them make only half of that.  And things have really improved over the last 100 years.

So the next time I am feeling sorry for myself because I don't have a tablet PC, or I can't afford a new windsurfer, I will try to remember that I am a spoiled, fat, happy, healthy American with very little to complain about.

But I wonder, why are we so wealthy compared to the other 99%?  Answer:  Western society exploited fossil fuels early and often.  Once we gained power through fossil fuel energy we used that power to gain more energy.  Because of this early advantage we now have the equivalent of 80 slaves doing work for each and every one of us every day. 

In other words, it would take the strength and energy of 80 people to provide the resources that each of us Westerners consume and use every day.  Our "slave equivalents" can be found in our electronics, cars, washing machines, dish washers, vacuums, factories, and most importantly in the food we consume (and waste). 

If you look at the societies that live on $1 a day or less, you'll see that they consume very little (if any) slave equivalents.  They aren't exploiting fossil fuel energy like us.  Their societies somehow missed out on the fossil fuel bonanza.

And it's too late now, I'm afraid.  The US production of domestic oil peaked in 1970, and world discovery of new oil peaked soon after that.  Those of us who are used to living with our 80 slave equivalents are going to fight like hell to keep them, like the southern plantation owners who wouldn't give up their slaves during the civil war.  In fact, our entire economy of debt is based on the premise that we will have more and more slave equivalents as time goes by.

I won't be surprised to see many of us joining the other 99.4% over the coming decades.  There just isn't enough cheap oil and natural gas to keep this party going for much longer.  I wish there was another cheap energy alternative, but sadly there is not.

So it's time for all Americans to stop and think about the future.  Do you want our children to grow up without the comfort and safety that cheap fossil fuel provides?  We need leadership and strength to prepare for an uncertain future.  This could be the biggest disaster that mankind will ever face, and right now we are ill prepared.

For starters we've got to conserve oil and reduce energy use.  When America gets serious about solving a problem, we are nearly unstoppable. It's now or later, and later will be much harder when the cost of technology innovation skyrockets with the cost of energy.

We need to build walkable communities, not sprawling faceless suburbs connected by highways.  We need to reorganize our production and distribution systems to work locally.  And we all need to think about how we can get along with fewer slave equivalents every day. We have an incredible amount of work to do in preparation for some huge changes, now is the time to act. 

We had a chance to watch the PBS/Frontline documentary on Walmart last night.  Wow, was that eye opening!  I had no idea that Walmart is bigger than Microsoft, IBM, HP, Dell, and Cisco put together.

And I also had no idea that Walmart is responsible for exporting thousands (or possibly millions) of our jobs to China.  Their constant demands for lower prices have driven US companies out of business because they can't compete with the low prices from China.  Walmart admits that they buy over $15 Billion dollars worth of Chinese imports every year.  Most analysts think the number is much higher.

According to Frontline "For several years, Wal-Mart has been the single largest U.S. importer of Chinese consumer goods, surpassing the trade volume of entire countries, such as Germany and Russia. Global sourcing is now fully integrated into the company's operations -- giving Wal-Mart enormous leverage worldwide. Foreign products account for nearly all of Wal-Mart's trumpeted low opening price point goods."

And when American companies try to defend themselves against unfair Chinese trade practices, does Walmart help out?  Well, not quite. Walmart recently sided with China, and testified on behalf of them, in a federal anti dumping case that argued that China was breaching its trade agreements.

Together, Walmart and China are dominating the US economy.  As our trade imbalance reaches epic proportions ($150 Billion with China this year), and our higher paying skilled labor jobs are exported, China continues to artificially limit the value of its currency.  By keeping the Yuan at a fixed price against the dollar, China and Walmart will continue to drive down prices, feed the trade imbalance, export jobs, and disrupt our economy.

In principle, free trade is great, as long as it's fair.  But when a communist country fixes their currency prices in order to prevent an even playing field for global commerce, we need to take action to preserve our jobs and communities. 

Link 

The USA Today thinks that the debate over global warming has concluded:

Link

I'm not so sure that those who reject science and it's conclusions are going to give up so easily, but I do agree that there has been a major shift in recent months toward the obvious truth.  General Electric and other corporations are finally getting the message.

Many of us in the United States are still in denial, clinging to the hope that our fossil fuel dream world can belch carbon endlessly without repercussions.  The US has fallen way behind the rest of the world in our response to this crisis, even though we are responsible for 25% of carbon emissions.  We have apparently chosen the path of least resistance -- do nothing and deny responsibility.

Years from now our children and grandchildren will look back at this debacle with disgust and shame.  They will be paying the cost of the crisis we selfishly ignored.  They will wonder why our country, the worst offender, was unwilling to face the facts and take action with the rest of the world to protect their future by adhering to the Kyoto Protocol.

April was the 2nd warmest on record, and so far 2005 looks to be in the running for the 2nd or 3rd warmest year on record.  Here is a link to the latest global temperature trends:

Link

For the last several months I've been noticing that My Yahoo has been extremely slow.  I think it's the banner ads that inhabit the top portion of that page that are slowing down.

For a refreshing change, try the new personalized home pages offered by Google:

http://www.google.com/ig

There isn't as much content available, but it's very fast.  And it will display your Gmail inbox right on the home page, in addition to your local weather, RSS feeds from Wired, Slash Dot, NY Times, and the BBC.  That'll do!