New York: Our bears are smarter than your bears … and some hikers

Bear-Proof Can Is Pop-Top Picnic for a Crafty Thief

This is very cool, IMNSHO. I like that Yellow Yellow can open a canister with which some hikers struggle. I also found the possibility of some level of teaching of other bears to be fascinating. I love this stuff!

I am glad that they are not talking about harming or removing this non-aggressive bear. I hope that someone will realize that the right solution is probably to put permanent truly bear-proof steel structures at the documented camp sites in the Adirondacks. Perhaps I’ll send email to the Adirondack Council.

Thanks rit.

Nukes Are NOT The Answer!!

If, like many, you believe nuclear power to be the solution to global warming, you need to read this. If you think France has solved the problem of what to do with nuclear waste, you need to read this.

[ed. note. My first link to this article went bad. I'm now putting links to the same article from three different sites. Reading any one of them will be good enough, no need to click all three. The third is a PDF if you want high quality printing. Thanks - M.S.]

Nuclear revival rekindles waste concerns
Nuclear revival rekindles waste concerns
Nuclear revival rekindles waste concerns

Valdez — A Deliberate Act by Exxon and BP?

The first thing to read in this post is an article entitled A well-designed disaster: the untold story of the Exxon Valdez. If that fails to make you physically ill, read on.

Here is an article from The Nation in 2004 entitled Whatever It Takes, detailing the actions ExxonMobil had taken up to that point in time. I was hoping to find something more current. Still though, 15 years of doing nothing is not a reason to hope that they’ve done anything in the last 3 years.

I read both of these articles in a book that is a collection of articles entitled The I Hate Corporate America Reader. There are many other great and depressing articles in that book as well.

Dare to Cruise

I’m always on a kick to try to convince people to use cruise control whenever possible. Cruise control provides many benefits that I will list below. However, my main reason for being a cruise control advocate is that it really pisses me off when others on the road do not maintain a constant speed. They pass me then get over and slow down. I pass them back they do the same again. We go up a hill and everyone on the road slows down. We go down a hill and everyone races.

I don’t care how good a driver you are. I don’t care how much you think you watch your speedometer. There is no way you will ever maintain a more constant speed with your foot than a little cruise control bot can. It doesn’t get bored. It’s mind doesn’t wander. It doesn’t have to do the far more important job of watching the rest of the road to avoid hitting anything. That little cruisebot just sits there all damn day watching the speedometer and making corrections. Please let it do its job.