Grow more pot Everybody should youtube search Jello Biafra "grow more pot". It discusses not the use of the THC, but rather all the environmentally beneficial things that hemp can offer us as a fiber.
Believe it or not, they're making plastic that can be for bottles, saran wrap, toys, etc out of corn. Not partially, but entirely made out of the corn-based plastic. http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/pla.htm It makes a lot more sense than dumping tax dollars into a recycling concept that is ineffective.
I would suggest you go out and get a job now while you still know everything!!!!! Its wonderful being young, impressionable, idealistic, inexperienced, and of coarse ignorant to the real world around you. Sorry, if I offended you
yeah. it's really easy to be so idealistic when you don't have responsibilities like a job, mortgage and family.
Welcome to the next generation, and thanks for screwing it up for us. Yes I think more for things for the greater cause, not things that directly effect my day-to-day wants. I go against the flow for reason, I don't want to screw up our world for our next generation. I merely suggest extreme ideas into this forum to bring thought and question to mind, and I obviously hit some sour and tender spots with some regular commentators due to the backlash and close-minded opinions I receive in response. Sorry if I offend any of you, but I don't care if I do. Don't worry I have a job best-suited for a good surf schedule, no nine-to-fiver pee-on daily highway commute job. Have fun with your mortgages in our current state of economy. Oh. and thanks for screwing that up for us too.
For you yonger kids (other than EC): if you have ever seen a middle-aged, disgruntled man and wondered how he got that way, this is how it starts! Unrealistic and self-righteous ideals on how things should be (vs everyone elses), huge expectations on the actions of others to make it happen & the inevitable collision with reality that you're on your own in this world. Only rich kids & bums can make it through life without waking up. The other 90% will actually have to make compromises because of occupational responsiblities & people depending on us. The disgruntled old guy is the dude in that 90% that has realized it too late.
Hit the nail on the head... EC: I feel you dude. You would probably consider me old, I am 29 years old and let me just assure you, that this country and this world was fu**ed long before we were a thought. We inherited the same sh** that you did. And when I was 18-19, I kind of felt the way you did. But it took a few years of traveling and living outside of where I grew up to understand the big picture. You know, its always good to put yourself out there and do what you think is right for your community and the world... But us older guys, and I'm not even 30 yet, aren't really disgruntled, we are just more aware of reality. Its like, all these activists are out at my beach everyday asking me to sign some petition to save the earth and the beaches and stop pollution. And thats cool, cause its the USA and we are all priveledged enough that we can spend out free time doing things like that, when the majority of people in this world have a daily task that included going out and figuring out how you are going to feed your family that day and how you are going to get fresh drinking water and not die.... So, while my beaches are super clean and being groomed by hippie tree huggers everyday, and I respect that... If its good for the beaches, its good for me. But 15 miles south of me, there are homes made of mud. Legal Child prositution. Drug wars. Human feces in the streets. TONS of human feces and garbage being dumped right into the ocean. Every 4 years old is trolling the streets trying to collect change from the 3 visiting tourists that were brave enough to go there. I mean, go spend a few days down in TJ and then come back to me and preach about cleaning our beaches and stuff... I mean, when I was 18, I probably would have been helping the hippies, but now that I have been around other places on the planet, I realize that while being active LOCALLY and doign what you can for your own beaches is a good thing, but anythihng more than that is futile. Its a waste. Its wasting time and money on things that will never change.. So now, I just pick up cans and trash every time I go surf. I clean my own beach and take care of my own community. That is all I can do.... My political outlook on most of the world is pretty negative these days. I just lost hope in mankind really. There are more BAD people in this world than good I feel like, and when I was a kid, I never thought that. I gave people the benefit of the doubt and thought that they were generally good. But then you see a starving mother prostituting her 13 year old daughter to feel herself, it makes you throw up in your mouth and never sign another petition again, cause there are terrors occuring all around us, and until some of the more gnarly ones go away, I dont have the faith to worry about everyone else... Like I said, I dont think we are disgruntled, I think we are just tired. We have become selfish in our ways because we dont trust the masses any more than you do. We dont waste time on fights we cant win. Just a crazy rant from a 29 year old.
If you want something to fight about - Fight the Layoffs of the police and teachers!!!!! Budget cuts are happening all over - Recycle is NOT A NECCESITY! I know you hippies will disagree but it is not. If cutting those jobs keeps more police on the street im all for it!!!!! and those who say F the police - wait until the boys from the bad neighborhoods start breaking into your homes when your at work and no one is patrolling the streets to catch them........
The funny thing about this whole thread is that OC is actually very "green" with our trash. Instead of throwing it in a landfill, or wasting money and resources on recycling, all of the trash, with the execption of aluminium, is being burned to create power for something like 12,000 homes. The aluminium is being recycled which makes sense because that process only uses about 1/6th the energy to extract aluminum from the ground. To many people have been brainwashed or believe everything they are told in media is truth. The recycling programs that so many places are adopting are accually doing more harm then good, but hey it makes em feel good!!! EC; take a chill pill, things ain't so bad, the world ain't going to end tommorrow. In fact, things are cleaner today then they were years ago. Are things perfect, no, but it ain't all that bad now. Don't believe everything the Libtards print and say cause 99% is nothing but BS.
LOL. I'm not a hippie and I'm in my mid thirties. The layoff of police and public workers is necessary. Our state is broke. We can't handle it like a 18 year old and just keep charging the credit cards. Some day the bills are due and now is that day. My property taxes are ridiculous. The only way to fix the issue is reducing salaries, pensions, layoffs, or all of the above. Otherwise, get ready for a tax hike. These workers are paid by myself and other residents of the state. In the private sector when a company is bankrupt, you get fired. Now, it's hands across America for these cops who are paid by us and are public workers. What a joke. They don't have a say. The people who pay their salaries (just like CEO) have the say. I believe police serve a purpose in certain quantities, but they weren't meant to get this large. You have to protect your own family and grow a sack. Everyone is dependant on the system. There are too many police officers and they retire at age 40 with huge pensions. These are cops in towns like Spring Lake where there is no crime. They make more than cops in actual cities who really fight crime and put their lives at risk. I'm not saying get rid of entire forces, but they should be combined across towns and reduce the unnecessary size because of their high salaries, overtime, and pensions. Let's try another approach. If you're against cutting police jobs, salaries, and pensions, then you can pay the higher taxes. I'm fine with that as long as my taxes don't go up higher. Just a fed up stock holder in the state of NJ talking here. Also, don't get me started on superintendents who make over $200,000 and towns that have more than one. These are the ones who realize the kids can't pass the tests now and lower the passing grades. It's makes the numbers look better. Pretty soon, all you'll need to get into college is a pencil. Then, everyone wonders why 17 other countries graduate more scientists than we do.
The teachers, I would defend before the police. Police is a definate need in this country, but state governments have been payrolling way too many police officers in un-needed areas. Every time I visit MD, I see a state trooper every 3 miles hidden in the trees with a speed gun. And no offense, but the current 5+ minute response time of police forces renders their actual responsibilities useless. All police to now is arrive and then investigate. We have plenty of data entry clerks that we can hire to process all the BS paperwork cops do. Police have been interfearing with citizens lives way too much over the past 2 decades. Police mostly do work that HURTS citizens and generates revenue for the state. Writing speeding tickets ALL OVER the place for going 74 on the highway. Generating revenue and not making anything any safer.... Just my opinion, but I have been in many situations where I have had to call the police or report smoething stolen etc, and to this day, not one cop has provided me with any real assistance. They just ticket my stolen car so many times that 2 months later when they run the tags they realize its stolen and give it back. They didnt lift one finger to help find it. They just sit on their asses and wait for something to happen. Then respond and show up too late. Then they do paperwork for 2 weeks and get nothing done. Teachers though... Man, with what I hear out of kids mouths these days and what I see on TV, we need TONS OF TEACHERS. AND GOOD ONES. More teachers would result in less of a need to police them. Civilize the youths and they wont turn into criminals. Pretty simple idea.
Wow. I detect a lot of bitter, cynical, angry people out there. A lot of the "ME" generation. I read about the term "idealist" being thrown around loosely and associated only with liberlism. I read about people that don't want to pay taxes. I read about people that don't want any regulations. Well, I am thankful to say that we don't have rivers burning in the USA these days unlike 3 or 4 decades ago. I see fish thriving in rivers and streams that were death pools many years ago. I remember cities in the USA so locked in with smog that your chest hurt after walking a city block. There has been tons of progress. Idealism isn't owned by any one ideology. Libertarians are idealists. Our country with regulations, rules and laws is idealistic, or Utopian. Unfortunately, countries without rules or enforcement mechanisms suffer badly when an earthquake strikes -- compare Haiti and Chile - two countries at opposite ends of the spectrum. One country lacks laws, taxes and infrastructure and the other does not. Compare Tijuana and San Diego. Compare Beijing and San Francisco.
word From another late 20's guy... One of the most touching memories I have in surfing is from when I was living back in Hawaii. I was actually out on the boat at the time, but my-then girlfriend told me a story about how she got bored one early morning and rode over to Waimea and ran into a certain Mrs. Aikau. Very soft-spoken lady who said her stress-reliever was to go to the beach and just pick up trash. She would do it for hours, like her own personal way of meditation. She told her about how Eddie was always the same way, never starting arguments, just quietly practicing his own virtues and spreading Aloha. I try and think about that story whenever I get all riled up, but I can definitely relate to your disappointment with the world. I guess, like the other guy (forgot his screen name, sorry) said, part of growing up is realizing that people do care, but they also have to survive. Those who really care lean toward the middle of the compromise sliding scale, but many others just cease to care. It's sad, but it's the way of the world. The key, I believe, is that we have to make sustainability EASIER. Those who don't care, well, we can't do much about their attitude, so we have to make "green" living more manageable. Since we are the ones who care, that's OUR responsibility, like it or not. I have actually offered to help people carry their trash over to the trash can if I look at the situation and feel like they're probably about to leave the mess behind. It can be mildly humiliating, especially when I just talked to the guy about being a naval officer (etc etc etc), but it's worth it knowing that maybe he'll feel enough guilt to clean up after himself next time. The point here is that talking to people one-on-one is the most effective way to go. It's easy to ignore a tv spot, but it's hard to know someone is watching you with disappointment every time you throw trash out the window. And yes, I have picked up trash behind someone and ran it up to return it, "Hey you dropped this, here ya go." Also humiliating, but we need to do the best we can these days. Aloha, Matt
Yeah, very good point. And to Rodnthetubes comment, I do definately agree that environmentally, this country has come a long way in the past two decades... I guess that was kind of my point too. Its that, especially in the laste 90s and early 2000s, this country was on quite the environmental kick. Now that the economy tanked, everyone's focus has shifted, rightly so... But I think we are way ahead of most other places and we are all thinking diferently about how we can reduce our carbon footprint. And with the bad economy, it has forced all of us to REALLY reconsider what we drive, where we drive and how much fuel we consume. I know I currently drive ai big old SUV that guzzles gas, and if I could afford to trade in and get a small Hybrid, I would. But for selfish reasons. Because gas is so expensive... But I guess that is the result of what Matt is saying. We, as a country have made sustainability pretty accessable. So much so that I am considering trading in my 4x4 for a hybrid civic. Its because we have legitimate options that are eco-friendly, and FINALLY, they are somewhat affordable and actually accessable to normal folks... So, like you and I both said. Just do what you can in your own community and make the right decisions for your own family and stuff. We arent perfect, but we are all going down the right track... People get in serious trouble for pollution violations and dumping sh** wherever they want, and that is great.
