Two "Little Boys" Too Many

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bomb (affectionately called "Little Boy") that dropped on the city of Hiroshima in Japan. The bomb generated a wave of heat which reached 4,000C (7,200F) and expanded across a radius of 4.5km (2.8 miles), obliterating the city.

As if that was not enough, three days later a second atomic bomb (Fat Man) was dropped on Nagasaki.

The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki. In both cities, the majority of the dead were civilians. 70,000–80,000 people, or some 30% of the population of Hiroshima were killed immediately, and another 70,000 injured. Over 90% of the doctors and 93% of the nurses in Hiroshima were killed or injured; most had been in the downtown area which had been greatly damaged.

Although the United States had previously dropped leaflets warning civilians of air raids on twelve other Japanese cities, the residents of Hiroshima were given no notice of the atomic bomb.

Just in case these two bombs didn't accomplish whatever it was they were trying to accomplish to begin with, the United States had another atomic bomb ready for use in the third week of August, with three more in September and a further three in October. That would have made a total of nine atomic bombs dropped on that little island.

In elementary school we were taught that it was the use of the Atomic bomb that ended the war. Well, even after 60 years, new questions are being asked about whether it was necessary to drop the atomic bomb - and whether the bomb was really responsible for the Japanese surrender. I'm sure historians will never fully agree on the answers.

Hello. I just can't imagine there couldn't have been another way.

Garbage Tax

A few of todays headlines: Soda Tax Weighed to Pay for Health Care and Senate Studies Soda Tax points out a few ways of paying for our new healthcare. I think they should take it a few steps further.

Go to a garbage dump and take a look around. I propose they tax what is filling up our landfills.. bottled water containers for starters. Bottled water should be taxed like cigarettes until they too cost $10. And sure, tax all soda both regular and diet. They are equally bad. And with as much garbage that is produced by one visit to a fast food restaurant, there should be a heavy tax on that as well. McDonalds, Wendy's and Burger King to name a few can easily put in a dishwasher and provide dishes for people eating at the restaurant.

The whole packaging industry needs to be addressed. Vitamin containers are only 1/2 filled, why are they so big? If something as delicate as a potato chip can be packaged in a thin bag, why is cereal packaged in boxes? Walk into any Toys R Us and the packaging of toys is just a sin. The package of any item should not outweigh or take up more volume than the content. Nothing needs to be 'double packaged'. Like a jar that is in a box, or a bag that is in a box (cereal), or a doll in plastic surrounded by cardboard. Many 'individual portions' should be done away with, they just create more garbage.

Chicago passed a Bottled Water Tax (more for eco reasons) and lists their sins:

The seven sins of bottled water are these:

1. Plastic bottles are made from petroleum.
2. The bottles often go into the trash, rather than the recycle bin (in part because many states don't offer five-cent deposits to encourage recycling, as they do on soda and beer cans and bottles).
3. The water is pumped far from where it is sold, creating needless pollution as trucks and barges transport it across the country or around the world.
4. Some local communities have objected to the sale of their water, arguing that the water underground or flowing from natural springs is publicly owned and should not be exploited for profit.
5. Bottled water is rarely as closely monitored as tap water.
6. Tap water in the United States, when provided by a municipal system, is the most highly monitored and safe supply in the world.
7. Some of the water sold in little plastic bottles is tap water, but it costs an awful lot more per gallon.

MTA Fair Hike... NYC Style

Our "every other year" Metropolitan Transportation Authority fair hike was scaled back today. But instead of fake promises of improved service, cleaner and newer trains and a moon or two, they tell us that our rate increase comes with less service, the elimination of some bus and subway routes, and they're going to cut jobs. Hmmmm, sounds like most every other fare hike that I can remember, except for the 'elimination of jobs' part. Nothing was mentioned about executive wages being cut or the replacement of executives or members of the MTA Board.

All new subway fair hikes will go into effect June 28th, 2009.

Like fare hikes of the past, they will soon have billions of excess money that they will have no idea what to do with,, but rest assured in 2011, they will have lost it all and be back asking for more. And improvements? I honestly have not seen any improvements in the 16 years I've lived here in NYC and they have raised the rates almost every two years. I think it is one of the most mismanaged businesses around. Make me MTA king and the rides will be set at one dollar (yes) and the trains will be cut in half and run twice as often.

How will this particular rate effect me? Well, since I am now living in Manhattan, I've been walking all I can for the past several months. Great exercise and I get to see the city street for street every time I go out. For long distances, I will take the Subway in one direction and if I have time, I'll take the bus back in the other direction, thus costing only one fare. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone.

In Memoriam

Sunday mornings are my time to channel surf through the political analysis shows. One of my favorites is This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

Two of his segments I like are the Funnies, and In Memoriam where he remembers those 'lives of note' who have passed on in the past week. Then he lists the soldiers:

"This Week with George Stephanopoulos" recalls the names of U.S. service members who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan this week. Our hearts go out to their loved ones.

I wonder if within those noted military deaths he also lists those who have committed suicide?

Amy Goodman with Democracy NOW reported this story on the Record Numbers of US Soldiers Committing Suicide:

The US military is grappling with a record number of soldier suicides. At least thirteen soldiers took their lives last month. That’s down from the twenty-four military suicides in January and eighteen in February, but still in line with the most number of suicides since record keeping began. As many as 143 soldiers reportedly took their own lives last year.

Emma Prophet, an investigator with the Board of Medicolegal Investigators goes on to say: There was a revealing article here, that I think actually got off of National Public Radio, that the first two months to three months of this year, there were more people that are active duty that committed suicide than there were killed in action. And that’s the first time that that’s ever happened. And it’s happening when they’re overseas, and it’s happening when they come home.

I wrote George Stephanopoulos and asked him if he does indeed 'remember' those soldiers who have committed suicide and if he considers that a casualty of war. When I get a response I will post it here.
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Follow Up: I have e-mailed ThisWeek several times and with several of their selected topics and I keep getting back: This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification. Delivery to the following recipients failed.

Best Buy - Adding To The Toxic Landscape

Early last week my LG DVD Player/Recorder went on the blink with only two years left into a four year warranty plan. Purchased at Best Buy, I took the player there where I was told it would be two to five weeks to get it repaired. Three days later I get a call telling me it could not be fixed and that I could come in and pick out another model.

Could not be fixed? The DVD player simply froze up in the middle of a movie. I rebooted, but it still could not recognize any disk I tried putting in. Now, it's not like I broke off the DVD tray or a cat peed into the circuits or anything. I really could not understand why it could not be fixed. The girl behind the counter said that "sometimes it costs more to fix than to replace".

What? It costs more for who? Best Buy? I had a warranty plan. Isn't that what I paid for? For them to fix it? But instead of it costing Best Buy, I ended up shelling out the $22 difference between my old model and the new one. In addition, I stupidly purchased a two year extended warranty plan for the new u nit. The machine has a one year warranty anyway, so in essence, I am only buying one year of extra warranty. Oh, and by the way, they conveniently don't sell the four year plan anymore. Hmmmmmmm, I wonder why?

So where did my "unfixable" DVD player end up? Some remote region of China or India? Are six toed, three eared children being born from this toxic pileup?

Best Buy does boast a green page on their website where they will charge you $10 to take back a very limited array of electronic equipment.. and then give you a $10 gift card. This is an option I suppose. But I still can't help but see through their scam of somehow making money on their extended warranty plans while never having to spend any... they certainly made $52 on me today and didn't have to spend a dime themselves.. and the cost to the environment? or the three eared babys? two headed frogs?