In Memory: Memorial Day

Memorial Day has become, for many people, just another 3-day weekend. The Uniform Holidays Bill, passed in 1968 and made a federal law in 1971, moved Memorial Day from May 30th to the last Monday of May. Now, I have nothing against a 3-day weekend and Memorial Day specifically, but with the ongoing “war” in Iraq and our troops still in Afghanistan I feel compelled to talk about a couple of issues.

First a little history about Memorial Day:

• Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. While there is much debate about where and when the tradition started, it began during the American Civil War.
• General John A. Logan, the national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, officially proclaimed Decoration Day in 1868. Flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery that May 30th.
• The name Memorial Day was first used in 1882; however, it was not commonly called this until after World War II. The holiday was officially given the name Memorial Day by federal law in 1967.
• President Lyndon Johnson officially declared Waterloo, N.Y., as the official birthplace of Memorial Day in 1966.
• You can find more information on the holiday at History.com.

In my opinion, the people who have and who are serving this country deserve our respect. However, while we may have had a reason to attack Afghanistan, I see no compelling or valid reason for our invasion of Iraq. We have bankrupted this nation, ruined our reputation with the rest of the world, and are destroying the lives of an entire generation not to mention what has happened to the lives of the Iraq citizens. Yes, I know, Saddam Hussein is gone (a good thing), but their country is in chaos now.

So, I salute and thank those that are serving this country. I am humbled by the sacrifices of those who have served. I deeply wish we could bring our men and women home from Iraq. I hope that the leaders of this country do not send us on yet another mission by invading yet another nation. I ask that they honor those who serve by bringing our troops home.

Sunset Photos

Every photographer has favorite subjects. One of mine is when the sun is starting to go down. The range of colors shifts to the warm side of the spectrum and everyday things take on a whole new look. Today I thought I'd share some of my favorite images with you. Hope you like them.

Truth, Lies & Chain E-Mails

I recently received a “chain” e-mail from a friend that contains a great amount of misinformation. Such e-mails get passed all over the internet and are accepted as the facts when in truth they are anything but. They are designed to look legitimate by inserting a few facts amongst a ton of disinformation. These e-mails work on the theory that if you tell a lie enough times it becomes the truth.

The e-mails also include an appeal to “share this with everyone” you know/like/care about. In my opinion this makes them a type of electronic virus. In reality we are only hurting ourselves by spreading such junk around.

So, how do you tell fact from fiction? Well for one there is a great source of true information at The Annenberg Political Fact Check. Their goal is to keep everyone honest by printing the truth. Another source for the facts can be found at the Urban Legends Reference Page. If you want to double-check everything, then you can also go to Truth or Fiction.

Right now there are a lot of political e-mails flying around the internet. Each side in this election year wants to prove that they are better than the other guy or gal. They need to show that they are the hero and that the other is some type of scum. The reality is that there are no knights on white horses. They are politicians and therefore all the same.

Here’s the next urban myth that’s starting to make the rounds: homeowners unable to pay their mortgage are walking away from their homes. In fact the lenders are spreading this lie to take the blame off of themselves for getting greedy and either deceiving their borrowers and or making loans they had no business making in the first place. The only ones walking away from homes right now are investors who purchased the home to make a ton of money.

So, if the e-mail sounds sensational and appeals to you to share it with everyone, please do us all a favor and find out if there is any validity to it at all before you hit that send button.

Biofuels: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Just about everyone realizes that oil is not a renewable resource, at least not at the rate that we are consuming it. The industrialized nations are sucking oil back at incredible rates. One estimate by the International Energy Agency printed here in April 2004 shows a consumption of 75 million barrels a day. A more recent estimate extracted here from the CIA World Factbook in June 2007 shows a consumption of 82,234,918 barrels per day. There is also quite a bit of debate on how much oil is really left that we can get to. Check out this post here and this interesting analysis of production vs. consumption. No matter what, the world needs to go on an oil diet and find another way to generate power.

Worldwide many nations are using some form of biofuel already. Here in America the talk is all about ethanol from corn. However, corn is a negative return for energy; in other words, it takes more energy to make ethanol from corn that what you get out of it. Here’s a report from the Washington Post and another blog here which outline some of the problems. Wikipedia has an excellent article on biofuels which goes into much great detail that I have room for here.

There are many possible sources for biofuels: corn (a poor choice), sugar cane (used by Brazil), switchgrass (I saw a show on the History Channel that showed excellent returns from this source), and even algae (some tout this as the perfect solution). Personally, I don’t think we should use a source for biofuel that is also a food crop because there are too many people on this planet without enough to eat or without affordable food available to them.

Perhaps one of the best solutions for our fuel problem was patented in 1892 by Rudolf Diesel. The original diesel engine was designed to run on vegetable oil (peanut oil). Today you can purchase a kit to convert your diesel engine vehicle to run on vegetable oil. You may even be able to get your vegetable oil for free. Most restaurants that fry food have to pay to dispose of their used oil. They are usually more than glad to have someone take it away for free. Not sure, check out this article on using vegetable oil as fuel.

Next car I buy may just have a diesel engine. Now, where is the nearest hamburger stand?