#This was at mount trashmore ……

[kylejasonblack]

[wiimotion]

05-15-2008

[systlin]

Me, trying to defend my home state's honor; Iowa has hills!!! I promise!!!

Iowa's hills;

https://www.solidwasteagency.org/mount-trashmore

[saleintothe90s]

481. April fools through the years via the New York Times

This might be my fvorite one, in 1997 Games magazine ran an article about a mystical crystal ball puzzle toy, Orion's Crystal. I can see why people fell for it -- the April issue of this magazine was apparently sent in February?!

I went searching for the actual article, and found the history behind the article on Twitter instead by user @puzzlereric (archive) who worked at Games.

(1987 North Adams College yearbook from archive.org)

Why would you drag that adorable lady in your April fool? Also, Thomas was apparently set to graduate in a few weeks. Just let it go man, you made a stupid mistake.

"Radio DJ April Fools" are probably the best known genre of backfired April fools. Never forget when my local 90s DJs Tommy & the Bull told residents of Hampton Roads that Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach was going to blow up.

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[nickgerlich]

Feel The Changes

One of the most contentious of subjects these days is climate change. It’s a politically-charged term, often misunderstood by laypeople if only because we have not been trained in science. Essentially, it includes global warming, which is strictly about surface temperature changes, but also the broader changes in climate. And for those of you playing at home, climate and weather are very different. “Weather” is what is happening right now; “climate” is the totality of a bunch of weather data points.

For those of you living in or near Amarillo, you may note we just hit ten consecutive days at or above 100F. That’s a record in these parts, although it pales in comparison to the current streak in Phoenix Arizona of 90 days. It’s almost enough to make you reach for a jacket.

But enough of the jargon, we have marketing to talk about, as well as consumer behavior. In spite of all the laughing face emojis you see on social media anytime someone posts a piece on the topic, or promotes EVs as a response, we cannot ignore it. Climate change is the elephant in the room, and if there is one thing I have learned in my increasingly long life, I’d much rather trust trained specialists in the field rather than empowered armchair critics who drink from the bottle of Dunning-Kruger. It’s what you don’t know that you don’t know that can kill you, or at minimum make you look foolish.

Besides, when the overwhelming majority of specialists in a field agree on something, it’s not a conspiracy. It’s a consensus. You couldn’t begin to pull off a conspiracy on that scale.

Marketers have their work cut out for them, though, when it comes to climate change, and the necessary message to curtail our consumption of fossil fuels. Whereas marketing was very useful in helping to reduce the portion of Americans who smoke (it is presently only 11.5%, down from about 45% in 1955), tobacco use is a strictly optional activity. Consuming fossil fuels is far more pervasive, extending far beyond the gasoline we put in our cars. It includes all of the plastics we use, synthetic fabrics, generation of electricity, and much more. It’s everywhere, and reducing our carbon footprint is tough. We can reduce it some, but getting rid of it entirely might well require us to abandon our cozy lifestyles and live off-grid in a cave with only minimal possessions.

EVs are perhaps the most visible response to the problem, but as naysayers love to point out, they too have a carbon footprint, not to mention include mining scarce minerals. For batteries. Oh, and there’s the nagging problem of what to do with expired batteries. Locally, we see hundreds of wind turbines erected in an effort to harness free wind energy, but those too have a carbon footprint, and the blades of the turbines must be disposed of. Recycling of both batteries and blades is something we can only hope for in the years ahead.

But then again, no one ever said EVs or wind turbines were perfect. They’re just better than the alternative.

Let it be known that I am on board conceptually with EVs, but I do not yet own one. They still do not have the key attributes I demand to meet my driving needs, which are range and recharge time. I also rather like a wind farm on the horizon. I envy those farmers and ranchers who lease their land for up to $8000 per year for each windmill on their land. Cha-ching.

How does marketing help effect change, though? And how does it do this without triggering the deniers who feel the need to bash something about which they truly know little or nothing? Oh, and never mind the implied overall change to lifestyles, because that’s what it is going to take, some folks being dragged into it kicking and screaming.

I don’t claim to have many answers, because this problem is larger than any of us can truly grasp, much less be able to solve. If you are anywhere near Canyon America, though, the best visual I can offer is our very own Mount Trashmore, the landfill west of town that has grown steadily throughout my 35 years here. Much of the contents in that eyesore is artifacts of our lifestyles, which have been in large part shaped by fossil fuels. Maybe someday, when they are done building it, they can make snow in winter and we’ll have skiing.

This is going to be much more difficult than the war on tobacco. This one affects each of us in varying degrees. None of us is perfect (especially me), but we can all do our part. This is all about our consumer behavior. As for marketers, it’s time to put on our creative hats and collectively figure out how to sell an idea that some don’t want to hear about.

Let’s get going.

Dr “Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Two supermoons in August mean double the stargazing fun (AP) The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons culminating in a rare blue moon. Catch the first show Tuesday evening as the full moon rises in the southeast, appearing slightly brighter and bigger than normal. That’s because it will be closer than usual, just 222,159 miles (357,530 kilometers) away, thus the supermoon label. The moon will be even closer the night of Aug. 30—a scant 222,043 miles (357,344 kilometers) distant. Because it’s the second full moon in the same month, it will be what’s called a blue moon. The last time two full supermoons graced the sky in the same month was in 2018. It won’t happen again until 2037.

The Race for the Melting Arctic (WSJ) On patrol in the Bering Sea last fall, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball spotted seven Chinese and Russian vessels steaming through the frigid waters in a double line near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. Russian warships and Chinese research vessels aren’t uncommon in a region that includes the Aleutians, a strategic chain of volcanic islands that divides the Pacific Ocean from the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean. “But to see these combatants form up in a surface action group together and steam together, that’s what’s rare,” said Rear Adm. Nathan Moore. Once a lonely and largely impassable maritime expanse where countries worked together to extract natural resources, the Arctic is increasingly contested territory. As sea ice melts and traffic increases on the southern edges of the Arctic Ocean, governments are maneuvering in ways that mirror the great-power rivalries seen in lower latitudes. In recent months, Russian bombers have increased their patrols over the Arctic and have probed further south. Norway’s intelligence service said that with Russia’s conventional forces weakened by the war in Ukraine, its strategic weapons are taking on greater importance, among them the nuclear-armed submarines of Russia’s Northern Fleet. More Russian-flagged commercial and government vessels are active in Arctic waters. In response, the U.S. is beefing up its presence in the Arctic by adding to its polar icebreakers. The U.S. has just one icebreaker in the region for only part of the year, compared with three dozen owned by Russia.

Heat Is Costing the U.S. Economy Billions in Lost Productivity (NYT) As much of the United States swelters under record heat, Amazon drivers and warehouse workers have gone on strike in part to protest working conditions that can exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. On triple-digit days in Orlando, utility crews are postponing checks for gas leaks, since digging outdoors dressed in heavy safety gear could endanger their lives. Even in Michigan, on the nation’s northern border, construction crews are working shortened days because of heat. Extreme heat is regularly affecting workers beyond expected industries like agriculture and construction. Sizzling temperatures are causing problems for those who work in factories, warehouses and restaurants and also for employees of airlines and telecommunications firms, delivery services and energy companies. The cost is high. In 2021, more than 2.5 billion hours of labor in the U.S. agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and service sectors were lost to heat exposure, according to data compiled by The Lancet. Another report found that in 2020, the loss of labor as a result of heat exposure cost the economy about $100 billion, a figure projected to grow to $500 billion annually by 2050.

Miami’s Overflowing Septic Tanks and Trash Piles Test Appeal to Rich (Bloomberg) Miami wants to attract even more out-of-state workers and wealthy newcomers like hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin. But first, County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava faces a huge environmental problem: overflowing garbage heaps and septic tanks. Some of greater Miami’s massive landfills, known by clever names like Mount Trashmore, will run out of space by 2026, according to a report from Cava’s office. More urgent are the septic systems that serve the city’s 2.7 million residents. Many of those front-yard sewage tanks overflow when it rains, releasing fecal bacteria and other contaminants that transform patches of tropical paradise into toxic swamps that kill fish and sicken people.

‘You do it or we do it’ (NYT) Mexico has been one of America’s closest allies for years under both Democratic and Republican administrations, even Donald Trump’s. That may be changing. Republican officials and voters have not only expressed criticisms of Mexico but also outright hostility against America’s southern neighbor. The starkest example involves repeated calls by Republican presidential candidates to bomb Mexico or unilaterally send troops there to stop the illegal drug trade, which would be an act of war. Trump led the way: He asked defense officials about striking Mexico with missiles while he was president, and during the 2024 presidential campaign he has supported military action. Ron DeSantis has called for using deadly force and a naval blockade of Mexican ports to stop drug traffickers. More moderate candidates, like Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, have also backed using the military against drug cartels in Mexico. “You know what you tell the Mexican president? ‘Either you do it or we do it,’” Haley said in March. “But we are not going to let all of this lawlessness continue to happen.” “In 35 years, this takes the prize as the stupidest idea I have ever heard,” said Jonathan Caulkins at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to the likely humanitarian toll and the hit to U.S. standing in the world, any incursion into Mexico could worsen the same problems Republicans are trying to address. To the extent that the U.S. has succeeded in stemming illegal immigration and drugs in recent years, it has relied on Mexico’s close cooperation.

In Odesa, Attacks Stoke Hatred of Russia (NYT) Standing on a bridge overlooking the road to Odesa’s main port, Nina Sulzhenko surveyed the damage wrought by a recent Russian missile strike: The House of Scientists, one of the Ukrainian city’s best-loved buildings, was in shambles. The mansion’s destroyed gardens spilled down over a ruined residential complex, and burned bricks lay strewn across the sidewalk. “I feel pain, and I want revenge,” said Ms. Sulzhenko, 74. “I don’t have the words to say what we should do to them.” Hers was a common sentiment in Odesa this past week after a series of missile strikes damaged the city’s port and 29 historic buildings in its Belle Époque city center, including the Transfiguration Cathedral, one of Ukraine’s largest. Odesa plays an important role in the mind of imperial Russians, and especially President Vladimir V. Putin, who views it as an integral part of Russian culture. But if Mr. Putin believed that Odesans would feel a reciprocal bond, he could not have been more mistaken, residents and city officials interviewed this past week said. Especially after the recent spate of missile attacks.

Russia Says 2 Drones Hit Buildings in Moscow in Latest Wave of Attacks (NYT/NBC News) The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had fired at least three drones at Moscow, demonstrating that few places are off limits after more than 17 months of war. One drone was destroyed in Odintsovo, outside Moscow, the Defense Ministry said, adding that two others struck commercial buildings in the capital after being intercepted by Russian air defenses. There were no injuries, Moscow’s mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app, but video footage from Russian state media showed blown-out windows and twisted beams in one of Moscow’s premier skyscrapers. Kyiv has stopped short of taking responsibility for the drone attacks, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested Sunday this could mark a new chapter. “Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia—to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” Zelenskyy said Sunday in his nightly video address. Last week, a drone fell in the center of the capital near the defense ministry headquarters, while another gutted a few upper floors of another building.

ISIL claims responsibility for Pakistan bombing that killed 54 people (Al Jazeera) The death toll from a massive suicide bombing that targeted an election in the border district of Bajaur has risen to 54, as Pakistan held funerals and the government promised to hunt down those behind the attack. Nearly 200 people were wounded in Sunday’s bombing claimed by the ISIL (ISIS) armed group on Monday. Around 400 members of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) party—a key government coalition partner headed by hardline politician Fazlur Rehman—were waiting on Sunday for speeches to begin when a bomber detonated a vest packed with explosives near the front stage.

11 dead and 27 missing in flooding around Beijing after days of rain (AP) Chinese state media report 11 people have died and 27 are missing amid flooding in the mountains surrounding the capital Beijing. Days of heavy rains have prompted authorities to close train stations and evacuate people in vulnerable communities to school gyms, state broadcaster CCTV reported Tuesday. Homes have been flooded, roads torn apart and cars piled into stacks. The level of rainfall is highly unusual for Beijing, which generally enjoys a moderate, dry climate. Flooding in other parts of northern China that rarely see such large amounts of rain have led to scores of deaths.

Legacy of corruption (Foreign Policy) The head of Lebanon’s central bank stepped down on Monday amid rampant corruption allegations and one of the nation’s worst financial crises in history. Riad Salameh, age 73, served at the country’s economic helm for 30 years. He came to power only three years after the nation’s 15-year civil war ended, at a time when international aid was flooding the country. Under his leadership, though, Lebanon’s currency lost 98 percent of its value, unemployment skyrocketed, and food prices increased by more than 600 percent. Salameh is currently under investigation for embezzlement in numerous countries, having borrowed money to pay existing creditors. He continues to deny the allegations, which many economic experts have compared to a Ponzi scheme.

Thousands take to streets in Gaza in rare public display of discontent with Hamas (AP) Several thousand people briefly took to the streets across the Gaza Strip on Sunday to protest chronic power outages and difficult living conditions, providing a rare public show of discontent with the territory’s Hamas government. Hamas security forces quickly dispersed the gatherings. Marches took place in Gaza City, the southern town of Khan Younis and other locations, chanting “what a shame” and in one place burning Hamas flags, before police moved in and broke up the protests. Hamas rules Gaza with an iron fist, barring most demonstrations and quickly stamping out public displays of dissent. The Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza in 2007 from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, prompting Israel and Egypt to impose a crippling blockade on the territory. The closure has devastated Gaza’s economy, sent unemployment skyrocketing and led to frequent power outages. During the current heat wave, people have been receiving four to six hours of power a day due to heavy demand.

West African nations threaten to use force if Niger’s president isn’t reinstated within a week (AP) West African nations have given Niger’s coup leaders one week to reinstate the country’s democratically elected president and have threatened to use force if the demands aren’t met. The announcement came at the end of an emergency meeting of West African countries Sunday in Nigeria, where the regional bloc, known as ECOWAS, convened to respond to last week’s military takeover. President Mohamed Bazoum remains under house arrest and has yet to resign. “In the event the authority’s demands are not met within one week, (the bloc will) take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger. Such measures may include the use of force,” said the statement. The bloc also imposed strict sanctions, including suspending all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Niger and freezing of assets in regional central banks.

[okyuei]

Tony Hawk at Mount Trashmore Virginia Beach in 1986

[kingtigermartialarts]

at Mount Trashmore Park https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm8HAfoueb1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[pamesjatterson]

if I don't find a lover by 50 I'm joining the list of people married legally to landmarks/ tourist attractions

[mazin-empress-g]

I can’t believe Mount Trashmore exists in the Brave Series universe.

Garbage Island is literally that.

[luxebeat]

Virginia Beach is much more than your run-of-the-mill beach town

Virginia Beach is much more than your run-of-the-mill beach town

Beach destinations are all about the sun, sand and sea, and I usually assume there’s not much else to such places beyond the proverbial trinket shops and restaurants. Virginia Beach, however, defies expectations. This lovely, coastal Virginia community not only has wonderful, white sand beaches, but also plenty of parks, museums and other cultural attractions, historical sites and a vibrant…

[caymannewsservice]

Public to get their say on Dart dump project

Public to get their say on Dart dump project

George Town landfill (Photo courtesy CIFS) (CNS): As Dart gets down to work on tackling Cayman’s waste-management problem after signing a deal with the previous government just weeks before the election, the islands’ largest landowner and government officials will hold three public meetings next month, according to a government advertisement in local print news. The meetings are steps towards…

[sanaria0]

Natalie and I toured my workplace, the USS GERALD R. FORD, in the early afternoon and went to Mount Trashmore Park in the evening. The park was really perfect for just casually walking around, talking, and taking in the sights. There was even a Reggae concert going on at the same time that we decided to visit. It was my first time there and I will definitely have to go again. 🤩😃 - - - #transgender #transwoman #mtf #trans #transisbeautiful #トランスジェンダー #lgbtq #thisiswhattranslookslike  #lgbt #transgirl #transfemale  #transgenderwoman #girlslikeus #transgirlsofinstagram #hangingout #transvisibility #transisnormal #greeneyes #mtftransgender #brownhair #selfie #transpride #makeup #workoutclothes #girlfriends #mttrashmore #walking #sunglasses https://www.instagram.com/p/Chh7ZNDOHi-/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[lostcryptids]

you went to virginia beach right. did you go to mount trashmore ?

Yes i did but omg i didnt know about this at all ahha we have a landfill park here too its in queens i think

[nickgerlich]

Clothes Encounters

Take a look in your closet. Please don’t ever say, “I don’t have a thing to wear.” The fact of the matter is—men and women alike—that we have far more clothes than we could ever begin to wear out. Yet we do, of course, because we tend to put our favorites into regular rotation, while everything else hangs there forlornly, the result of a bad consumer decision at some point.

And yet we buy more. 

I remember when I went to China in 2002 to adopt our youngest daughter. I noticed that our local liaisons often wore the same clothes for up to a week at a time. Yeah, you can probably imagine the sweet aroma that occurred. But they did so not because they were eccentric. They simply did not own many clothes, this coming two decades ago when China was just emerging from under the gun of decades-long communism-imposed poverty. When I returned in 2019, they dressed pretty much like is.

But can you imagine having so few clothes that you had to wear them repeatedly? We. Can’t. Even. Heck, sometimes we change clothes several times a day, from office to leisure to workout.

The result of our western prosperity is closets full of clothing, fueled by fat pocket books, desire, and fast fashion, that nefarious practice of clothiers introducing new styles on a rolling basis, the majority of these designed to be “in” right now, “out” in a heartbeat, and falling apart in no time.

The vast majority of our unwanted clothing—whenever we do get rid of it—winds up in the landfill. And don’t feel too smugly yet about what you drop-and-run at Goodwill. A whopping 80% of that is shipped to Africa, simply because Goodwill cannot begin to handle all of the items they receive. Houston, we have a huge problem on our hands here.

Worse yet, while there have been efforts to recycle clothing, as well as voiced desire to at least consider the prospects, we have had little success. It’s a noble cause for sure, but it hasn’t been able to find legs. Recycling, as it turns out, is an idea that must be marketed as much as the tangible items in the center of the discussion.

But three companies—Levi’s, Adidas, and Zara—are starting to gain traction with their recycling efforts, along with several startups farther up the resource chain. It’s about time, because as I once again summon one of my favorite talking points—the sprawling Mount Trashmore outside of Canyon—I see more and more of our daily consumables winding up in the dumpster.

Essentially, the efforts involve turning wood and other wastes into fiber, as well as textile-to-textile recycling.

It’s truly nothing new, because I have seen many garments in the last 20-30 years made from recycled plastic soda bottles. These tend to be athletic clothing, simply because cotton is an athlete’s worst enemy much of the time. Once wet, always wet. Patagonia, on the other hand, is committed to recycling polyesters, and while their clothing line is outdoorsy, it is more leisure wear than performance wear.

That leaves much of what remains in our closets as being one-way, meaning direct from consumer to dump, or, if we’re feeling generous, on its way to Africa.

Reducing the carbon footprint of clothing is going to take a huge effort, much more than what these forward-thinking companies could ever muster. But their baby steps are essential for making progress in the right direction.

Furthermore, recycling in general is an idea that must be sold more aggressively, especially in a place like West Texas where it is now lumped in with all those other “woke” ideal points. It’s all easy to pay lip service, too, but getting ourselves mobilized is quite another.

It all starts by shopping with a conscience and thinking about where and how you will ultimately dispose of the item. If you can’t answer those questions, it’s probably time to reconsider the entire purchase.

Said the man in the mirror.

Dr “Buy Less, Save More” Gerlich

Audio Blog