Most Senators and Congressmen have email forms that can be used to contact them. Although they probably don't read 99.9% of the letters they receive, you might get lucky. Plus, there is usually a place to input the subject of an email, and I'm willing to bet that they do keep track of how many letters they get about bills they vote on.
Here are my Senators and Representatives
Senator Jon Kyl
Senator John McCain
Representative Gabrielle Giffords (85719-2857 )
Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (85735-8803)
Friday, April 27, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
On the Current State of What Paleontology Knows -- Not Much.
They don't even know what the land looked like. They know next to nothing about the major rituals or holidays, let alone what beliefs may have motivated them. They don't even know what their society did. We do know they built roads. But was the land farmed? Did they plant trees? They don't know when they lived in particular places, how much rain they had to work with, what the landscape was like. How the land changed as they abandonded it (or did it change first and they had to abandon it afterward). Cause and effect?
Seminar:
Alluvial geoarchaeology of fire history and culturally modified environments along the Eastern Mogollon Rim, Arizona. Chris Roos
Affiliation: Anthropology, University of Arizona
Seminar:
Alluvial geoarchaeology of fire history and culturally modified environments along the Eastern Mogollon Rim, Arizona. Chris Roos
Affiliation: Anthropology, University of Arizona
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Choose Life
"Two paths lie before us. One leads to death, the other to life.
If we choose the first path—then we in effect become the allies of death, and in everything we do our attachment to life will weaken: our vision, blinded to the abyss that has opened at our feet, will dim and grow confused; our will, discouraged by the thought of trying to build on such a precarious foundation, will slacken; and we will sink into stupefaction, as though we were gradually weaning ourselves from life in preparation for the end.
On the other hand, if we reject our doom, and bend our efforts toward survival-then the anesthetic fog will lift: our vision, no longer straining not to see the obvious, will sharpen; our will, finding secure ground to build on, will be restored; and we will take full and clear possession of life again. "
Schell, Jonathan. Fate of the Earth.
If we choose the first path—then we in effect become the allies of death, and in everything we do our attachment to life will weaken: our vision, blinded to the abyss that has opened at our feet, will dim and grow confused; our will, discouraged by the thought of trying to build on such a precarious foundation, will slacken; and we will sink into stupefaction, as though we were gradually weaning ourselves from life in preparation for the end.
On the other hand, if we reject our doom, and bend our efforts toward survival-then the anesthetic fog will lift: our vision, no longer straining not to see the obvious, will sharpen; our will, finding secure ground to build on, will be restored; and we will take full and clear possession of life again. "
Schell, Jonathan. Fate of the Earth.
A gigantic experiment with all living things...
I have become increasingly skeptical of the safety of common chemicals. It is not that they are untested, but that they may be fundamentally untestable. Results showing changes in the grandchildren of exposed rats and hormone mimics having effects at doses almost too low to measure persuade me that the Precautionary Principle should be applied. At present, "we are running a gigantic experiment with humans and all other living things as the subject."
I talked to a Nalgene sales representative who swore there was no danger from Bisphenol A. Turns out there's quite a body of literature to the contrary, Canada's environmental agency is reviewing its grandfathered status and San Francisco has already banned it. Here's the letter I wrote after doing my research:
Mr. _____,
We spoke at the University of Arizona vendor fair on Tuesday the 24th of April briefly about BPA in Nalgene products. As I indicated, our lab is very concerned about any and all hormone mimics. We recently had an incident, unrelated to BPA, involving possibly paper products or wheat that may have been contaminated with some sort of juvenile growth hormone, leading to the virtual eradication of our colony animals (Manduca sexta) and a slow down over several months in our ability to conduct research.
As you can see, we are very concerned about possible extraneous factors affecting our research. Despite your assurances to the contrary, I do not find the peer-reviewed research on BPA to show it to be conclusively safe for use in our lab. (CF. Murray TJ (2007). "Induction of mammary gland ductal hyperplasias and carcinoma in situ following fetal bisphenol A exposure." and Frederick S. vom Saal (2006). "Large effects from small exposures. II. The importance of positive controls in low-dose research on bisphenol A.") Therefore, we will continue to seek out alternatives to Nalgene plastic containers in our purchasing.
If you are aware of any new research showing the safety of Nalgene products I would be happy to hear about it. In the meantime, this letter is simply to express my concerns and my conclusions based on the information you gave me and the information I have available to me.
Thank you.
Related Articles:
Man-made Chemicals Detected In Newborns
I talked to a Nalgene sales representative who swore there was no danger from Bisphenol A. Turns out there's quite a body of literature to the contrary, Canada's environmental agency is reviewing its grandfathered status and San Francisco has already banned it. Here's the letter I wrote after doing my research:
Mr. _____,
We spoke at the University of Arizona vendor fair on Tuesday the 24th of April briefly about BPA in Nalgene products. As I indicated, our lab is very concerned about any and all hormone mimics. We recently had an incident, unrelated to BPA, involving possibly paper products or wheat that may have been contaminated with some sort of juvenile growth hormone, leading to the virtual eradication of our colony animals (Manduca sexta) and a slow down over several months in our ability to conduct research.
As you can see, we are very concerned about possible extraneous factors affecting our research. Despite your assurances to the contrary, I do not find the peer-reviewed research on BPA to show it to be conclusively safe for use in our lab. (CF. Murray TJ (2007). "Induction of mammary gland ductal hyperplasias and carcinoma in situ following fetal bisphenol A exposure." and Frederick S. vom Saal (2006). "Large effects from small exposures. II. The importance of positive controls in low-dose research on bisphenol A.") Therefore, we will continue to seek out alternatives to Nalgene plastic containers in our purchasing.
If you are aware of any new research showing the safety of Nalgene products I would be happy to hear about it. In the meantime, this letter is simply to express my concerns and my conclusions based on the information you gave me and the information I have available to me.
Thank you.
Related Articles:
Man-made Chemicals Detected In Newborns
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
50 and 100 miles from home
This is an old AAA map of Arizona, with modifications. Since my van can be towed 100 miles for free, it seemed prudent to determine the extent of my get-home-free zone. This is where I feel comfortable; anything beyond that starts to stretch my luck and my umbilical. This zone, my home, includes most of Arizona's sky island mountain ranges.
Learning the Shape of Clouds
"learning the shape
of clouds" not
that every moment
has to be extra
ordinary. Kick
some leaves.
The underside
of some rocks
pinecones and
pale
leaflitter on
the dark earth
but some days
there is just a single
dark cricket under
the rock and the
leaves make an empty
rustling.
I'm moving in the
right direction. Except
the fire in my
lower stomach and
the surge at the back
of the brain
and the eyelids
when breathing.
Your own footsteps
on the way back.
Tire tracks gradually
you hear only
the swish
of pants
inside the muffle
of hat and jacket
of clouds" not
that every moment
has to be extra
ordinary. Kick
some leaves.
The underside
of some rocks
pinecones and
pale
leaflitter on
the dark earth
but some days
there is just a single
dark cricket under
the rock and the
leaves make an empty
rustling.
I'm moving in the
right direction. Except
the fire in my
lower stomach and
the surge at the back
of the brain
and the eyelids
when breathing.
Your own footsteps
on the way back.
Tire tracks gradually
you hear only
the swish
of pants
inside the muffle
of hat and jacket
Thank-you for Your Help
because of you I walked out one last time
into the Baja sun and bright concrete surround
I said goodbye to nobody and thanked no one for their help
silently without moving my lips
no vibration on take-off
blink and then the clouds opened over Dallas
the grid-plan
welcome to the American machine
consumed and then the west Texas farmfields,
Guadalupe mountains, White Sands Nat'l Monument,
the rocky backbone of the continental divide,
islands perched in the sky,
home: a rusted plane by the runway
two beautiful women with perfect posture
walking away from me into the setting Tucson sun
into the Baja sun and bright concrete surround
I said goodbye to nobody and thanked no one for their help
silently without moving my lips
no vibration on take-off
blink and then the clouds opened over Dallas
the grid-plan
welcome to the American machine
consumed and then the west Texas farmfields,
Guadalupe mountains, White Sands Nat'l Monument,
the rocky backbone of the continental divide,
islands perched in the sky,
home: a rusted plane by the runway
two beautiful women with perfect posture
walking away from me into the setting Tucson sun
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Why Did You Do That?
Why do other people act the way they do? Actions that you can't explain through values or ideology, like good environmentalists watching TV instead of the sunset. I think everyone has a list of weird inexplicable actions that other people do. For what reason? Personally, and I realize this is a personal failing and I'm working on it, I've always chalked up inexplicable actions to stupidity. The reason the ex-hippies paved over our vegetable garden was because they didn't realize how important it was or how much they'd miss it, nor how easy an alternative solution might have been. They didn't realize because they didn't really want to think about it, or they couldn't.
Since realizing my own explanation I've stopped believing it as much and have become more interested in other people's explanations. There is usually a dominant one, a recurring cognitive theme. For example, R, either through projection or the basic goodness of his nature, thinks that the reason people do bad things like cut you off in traffic is because although they know better, they just don't care. This lack of care is, for him, the ultimate indicator of all wrong actions. R has always been of the Old School of medieval honor and loyalty. For him, Good and Evil are daily battles.
I was recently rereading Catcher in the Rye, and over and over again Holden Caulfield, the dropout kid, explains people's behavior by calling them "phonies". I like that. In their hearts they know better and maybe actually are good people, but they end up doing the exact opposite because of society or because of something mysterious called "growing up". Getting used to being phony. Hunter S. Thompson famously described the Problem with Americans as "Fear and Loathing". Ever the wordsmith, he chose one of the most evocative and perspicacious phrases to describe other's failings. People live in suburbia because they're afraid of the city, afraid of others. And how much of that behavior transitions from fear to a kind of sublimating hatred; no better word exists than "loathing". In contrast, Steinbeck writes about "ignorance of the self" being the root of all evil.
I think he might be on to something with the whole Socrates "self-knowledge" angle, but why stop there? I'm an ecosystem Buddhist, a way of thinking I learned from the Zen/Beat poet Gary Snyder. According to him, we shouldn't judge others because everyone has a part to play in the drama-dream of life. We shouldn't judge warmongers for warmongering anymore than we should judge the hawk for killing rabbits. That is their (ecological) role in this life, a role we can vehemently fight, but not one that we should stoop to judging personally. I'll do my thing, tend to my business, and you do yours. Can any one explanation be more than a crutch? I and those around me deserve better.
Since realizing my own explanation I've stopped believing it as much and have become more interested in other people's explanations. There is usually a dominant one, a recurring cognitive theme. For example, R, either through projection or the basic goodness of his nature, thinks that the reason people do bad things like cut you off in traffic is because although they know better, they just don't care. This lack of care is, for him, the ultimate indicator of all wrong actions. R has always been of the Old School of medieval honor and loyalty. For him, Good and Evil are daily battles.
I was recently rereading Catcher in the Rye, and over and over again Holden Caulfield, the dropout kid, explains people's behavior by calling them "phonies". I like that. In their hearts they know better and maybe actually are good people, but they end up doing the exact opposite because of society or because of something mysterious called "growing up". Getting used to being phony. Hunter S. Thompson famously described the Problem with Americans as "Fear and Loathing". Ever the wordsmith, he chose one of the most evocative and perspicacious phrases to describe other's failings. People live in suburbia because they're afraid of the city, afraid of others. And how much of that behavior transitions from fear to a kind of sublimating hatred; no better word exists than "loathing". In contrast, Steinbeck writes about "ignorance of the self" being the root of all evil.
I think he might be on to something with the whole Socrates "self-knowledge" angle, but why stop there? I'm an ecosystem Buddhist, a way of thinking I learned from the Zen/Beat poet Gary Snyder. According to him, we shouldn't judge others because everyone has a part to play in the drama-dream of life. We shouldn't judge warmongers for warmongering anymore than we should judge the hawk for killing rabbits. That is their (ecological) role in this life, a role we can vehemently fight, but not one that we should stoop to judging personally. I'll do my thing, tend to my business, and you do yours. Can any one explanation be more than a crutch? I and those around me deserve better.
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