WiFi Make You Itch? June 27, 2007January 6, 2017 A CAUSE TO BELIEVE IN According to this, calls and emails to Congress are running five to one against expanding the federal hate crimes law to include hate crimes against gays and the disabled. The bill passed the House; but opponents – bursting with good intentions – are hoping to stop it in the Senate. Lest you think these fine people are going at the problem with a blunderbuss, they are not mounting a campaign to repeal the existing hate crimes statute; just fighting to keep from expanding it. Isn’t it great to know that, with all the other things that need doing, people find the time to oppose inclusion of people like Matthew Shepard, beaten to death for being gay, after whom the bill was named? EASY! You’ve probably done this by now, but I continue to replace incandescents with CFLs and I realize that here in my office, which I used to use 400 watts to light, I now do fine with 58. No sacrifice whatever. The bedroom is now frequently bathed in nothing more than 9-watt reading lights (equivalent, the package claims, to 50-watt incandescents) shining down over each of two pillows – more than enough to illuminate a book 30 inches below or to keep us from banging into things as we navigate the room. That’s 18 watts total, where before we’d typically use 200 or more. Which brings us back to our good friend . . . ALISON, AGAIN Carl: ‘Re: Dennis and Kevin on Alison – Geez guys, give her a break! Here comes someone with a positive message. Instead of the support and encouragement that we should give her, we slam her! Get a grip, guys.’ Allen Jones: ‘Such irrelevant, jealous meanderings! Yes, Alison has excess money and thusly owns a second home in Connecticut. That point is really moot. Alison is STILL doing her part. It really isn’t ours to judge the reason for this second home, it’s only Allison’s business. Kudos to Alison for explaining how simple it can be to cut energy usage in ANY home, first, second, or twentieth.’ Cynthia LaLuna: ”Green’ building techniques and research are often funded by the well-to-do until they can be scaled up, and priced down, for the mass market. Without such well-off explorers, we would not have green corporate buildings or residences going up all over this country – or be developing lower-cost, mass-market versions.’ Linda Tam: ‘I was surprised no one who wrote about Alison asked how much electricity she was saving? Sure she is saving 45% on her BILL, but I expect her power savings (and therefore her planet-saving environmental kudos) were less because of utility baseline allowances. At least with my utility bill in California, billing is progressive and that last kilowatt-hour each month costs more than the first.’ Christina O’Sullivan: ‘Have you seen carbonfootprint.com? Tell me at least you’ve gone to climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator. I bet many of us unwashed masses have a carbon footprint smaller than Alison’s household. Unfortunately, if everyone in the world lived the way I lived, expending 3.9 tons per year, we’d need 2.3 planets to hold all of us.’ THE REAL REASON TO TURN OFF ELECTRONICS Bill Bruno: ‘Saving energy is a worthy goal, but saving your health is arguably more important. I’ve discovered the hard way about electrical sensitivity. Not only are those electronics using energy, they are also generating impressive magnetic fields and in many cases microwave radiation (even when ‘off’ or in stand-by). I’m a Ph.D. physicist, and I’ve measured these fields. It is thought that exposure to such fields (especially if you live near a cell phone tower – and these days who doesn’t) leads to the sensitivity. Here‘s a link on how one can survive this condition, but believe me it’s not pleasant. So turn off your cell phone, unplug your wireless router and anything near your bed. Use surge protectors and turn them off when not in use!’ SiCKO! Michael Moore’s SiCKO opens Friday. Run don’t walk. At the screening I attended, 1500 people were on their feet cheering through the entire credits.