Blog

Life, Pollution/ Conservation

Save The Land

Anthony Dixon

 

Looking across the Bay, I see Bridges Built on the Ocean’s Floor, strong enough to endure most Natural Disasters. Distance further I see the Remnants of the Bridge before. I see all its Throwaways and abandonment . The idea of reusing  50% of what we throw away gives years to the Planet. We are killing the Planet with our Waste, eventually we will have no place to put it, and we will have to dig holes in the backyard or Burn it and further pollute the air. When I Lived in Pennsylvania one of the things that irked me was that we took in waste from other States. In a nature preserve in the Pocono mountains lies a quaint Village known as Huggy Bear. We were Homeowners looking to trade up, we came upon the most beautiful Home in our price range, sitting on three Acres, this was my dream Retreat nestled in luscious nature. Only to find out that as a result of a Landowner with a Crater on his Land decided to make some Money, by accepting Waste. Turned out that old Batteries were Dumped,  leaked contaminated Water for miles in the underground waterways . If you watered the Grass you would kill it. One Hundred and fourteen chemicals were found in the Water.



It was at that point I realized that what the Environmentalists were saying was right all along. Protect the Earth through Conservation. In Huggy Bear it was evident that we were killing the Land. Very little is known or said about Huggy Bear, we know about Love Canal and Three Mile island. When I Lived in Wilkes Barre Pa, I used to see this ominous Cloud that hovered over the Nuclear Power plant. There were nothing Natural about this Cloud that would not dissipate and go away. Who am I to say what goes up must come down. What do I know, they don’t tell you anything anyway, except what you need to know. The oil spill in Louisiana will leave it’s Toll for Centuries on the Wildlife. So what are we doing about doing our part, as Consumers we refuse to recycle in any way shape or form. We dispose of our Garbage out the Car Window and just about anywhere we can find, including the Waterways.

 


Big Industries that we buy their products from, dump their waste water in Waterways that runs hundreds of Miles. We are looking good as an Industrialized World, but very poorly as Conservationists on a mission to save the Land. We need to teach the Kids to save the Land for their Kids. Since we started recycling Billions of dollars have been made and Longevity given to the Environment. All I am saying is, we are smart enough to Colonize the Moon, so we slowly kill Planet Earth, so we can move on to destroy the Moon. Hello!

Conservation and Environmental control will save us from our destruction !!!

 

 

Related Stories

Red Tide

SCIENTISTS SAY FLORIDA HAS THE SOLUTION TO RED TIDE BUT SPECIAL INTERESTS MIGHT BE IN THE WAY

The state has wetlands that were built with taxpayer money and they’re doing a great job of cleaning the water. The problem is that less than a quarter of the water being treated there is actually from the lake, most of it is from sugar farms.

Author: WTSP Staff

Published: 10/29/18

It has not been a good year for Florida’s beaches. Red tide has killed thousands of tons of marine life. It has cost taxpayers millions of dollars in clean up efforts. It’s making Floridians sick, and it’s not over yet.

Red tide is a natural algae bloom made much worse by human activity.

“We’re feeding algae blooms with tons of fertilizer,” Peter Girard from Bullsugar.org, an environmental group, said. “That is not natural.”

Scientists point to pollution flowing into a major lake.

“This could be done by a kid in a science fair project. Take a red tide sample, just dump a little bit more polluted water in it. It will explode,” Dr. William Mitsch, Everglades Wetland Research Park professor, said.

He says the problem can’t be solved without Florida’s influential sugar industry doing its part.

“I’m sorry they’re the last ones standing that has that land,” Dr. Mitsch said.

And sugar farmers respond.

“When they’re trying to put us out of business because of something that might be their fault, then we’re going to fight back, we’re not going to allow it,” Alan Hammock, owner of Frierson Farms, said.

The problem starts in Lake Okeechobee, Florida’s largest freshwater lake. This summer it was covered in blue green algae.

“Lake Okeechobee has been called the liquid heart of Florida and it’s filthy right now,” Girard said.

Farm, septic tank, and fertilizer run off flows into the lake from the North. Then, that water is discharged into rivers to the east and west making its way to the coasts and feeding toxic algae.

Instead of being diverted to the coasts, activists wish that water flowed South, the way it naturally did more than a century ago before sugar companies converted wetlands into farmland.

“We’re trying to make a living, we’ve been doing it for more than a hundred years, you know,” Mr. Hammock said.

The Hammocks live on their farm. The same way their relatives passed on the company to them, they want to leave the land to their kids.

Ardis Hammock, owner of Frierson Farms, says she doesn’t like the term ‘Big Sugar’ because it is “a derogatory term that someone chose to label us.”

And it would be unfair to label the Hammocks’ 750 acres of farmland ‘Big Sugar.’ But activists use it to refer to companies like U.S. Sugar that give tens of millions of dollars in campaign donations to politicians from both parties. They own 230,000 acres of land and seem unwilling to sell any of it.

“This issue was addressed last year in the Florida legislature,” Judy Sanchez, U.S. Sugar’s spokesperson, wrote in an email to 10News. “There is no need to purchase additional farmland and to put farming communities out of business.”

Mrs. Hammock makes the point that sugar farmers are not responsible for the majority of the pollution going into the lake.

“Why aren’t you stopping it where the problem is? Why do you ever want it to come into the lake?” she said.

But even if the runoff from the North stopped flowing into the lake today, the water is already polluted and would continue feeding toxic algae for at least another decade, scientists say.

So, cleaning the water has to be part of the solution.

 

Life

24 Hours

Anthony Dixon

Russian Roulette

The first 12 Hours without a Cigarette went by understandingly  noticed, but not filled with anxiety and not strung out. Nonetheless by the thirteenth Hour I had purchased a Pack smoked halfway through, I decided from here that 12 hours could be 24 and I wouldn’t Die. What will make me Die  is to continue smoking as if there’s nothing wrong with me smoking. Growing up in the Bronx, I have seen many Addictions. In High School I knew a potential NBA hopeful, he choose to stay in the Schoolyard getting stoned all day, instead of putting down his Baggage he chose  to end his potentials  through Addiction. Make no mistake a Nicotine Addiction is a little slower to kill you than Drugs and Alcohol but certain non the less.

As the saying goes to make an Omlet you first have to crack an Egg. Am I ever cooking, long ago I smoke two packs a Day while being behind the wheel driving commercially. Unwittingly sucking up my own secondhand smoke, even if I had all four Windows down by the time the smoke was drafted out I already inhaled about 25% of what escaped through the opened Windows, some people grudgingly cracks one or two Windows which is not enough to keep all that secondhand smoke from your Lungs. Being conscious that every time you put a Cigarette to your Lips you are swimming against the Tides of Nature is a start. Nature have a way of telling you, something is wrong, with all the bad stuff we put in our Body,  sometimes in excess, Alcohol Cigarettes Bad Foods, we are taking away years from ourselves. Taking Charge of damage control is a big plus, for instance did you know that the Smoke Room at work is one of the worst place to hang out, next time you go in a smoke area before you light your cigarette take a deep breath. One thing I know for a fact, being a smoker it never occurred to me how addicted to Cigarette Smoke I was, when sitting among ten smokers in a partially closed in area with a Roof. The smoke that the eleven of us blow, is able to set off a fire alarm yet not one of us complained of eyes and nose discomfort

When you are a longtime smoker your Lungs will burn but too much tolerance you won’t even notice. When you can get to the point that an enormous amount of smoke can fill your Lungs in such regular seasons, you should start thinking about the problem.

Wheather or not there is a lited cigarette the presence of second hand smoke is overwhelming, now imagine what you are doing to your Lungs when ten other people lights up in that small area. The greatest damage done to my Lungs were done in the last two years working for a company that provided two smoking areas, one was under a Garage, walking through the Garage without having one lit you were smoking. If I had decided to continue smoking I would only smoke in front of a fan knowing that my own secondhand smoke was killing me and everyone around me. I also would only use a Brand that was Organic. Coming down with Tobacco related Illnesses is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Right now you are fine, Six months ago I was fine smoking for over 50 years then out of the blue I had Emphysema along with the periodic Coughing. I waited a lifetime until the damage was done, you should not walk in my footprints. Instead you should start now developing a consciousness that it is not a matter of if, but when. After 50 years of Poisoning my body I am lucky to be alive. Playing Russian Roulette with your Health, one day you will find the Bullet like I did. The one good thing about quitting is it dose’nt matter where and when you stop Smoking, your Body starts repairing itself. Depending on when you quit 100% can be repaired, keeping this in mind by Quitting now you give yourself all kind of chances. When you get to where am at most everything is irreversible all you can do to prevent rapid progression is to Quit. Emphysema is sucking in air that exits slowly. You guys please don’t worry about my Emphysema worry about me giving you a Heads up and you thinking that I am alone.  If I had someone Yapping at me about me getting Emphysema, I probably would have quit 20 years ago. My thing about the things that kill you is the suffering, I never wanted to suffer but if you smoke for over 50 years not expecting retribution from your Body then it is what it is. Neil Young puts it Best” Old Man take a look at my Life it’s a lot like yours”

Parenting And Relationships

It’s A Challenge

Anthony Dixon

It’s A Challenge



To be a good Parent May be The Challenge of your Life. The Bible says go forth and multiply, some Half Wit Philosopher said your Life is not fulfilled until you have Children.  Not disputing the Bible, but I match with the latter. Having and raising Children isn’t all that it’s cropped up to be. First of all, once they come on the screen, your Life is changed. You can’t go out Drinking and hanging with the Boys every Weekend coming Home in the Am looking through three Eyes, and leaving  the little Woman alone to deal with the miseries, they throw at her, if you could only see yourself through her eyes . No you have to be there to get your share of the loaded Diapers , the middle of the night wailing, then they grow to be little People with big attitudes. Woke up one day and find that your Life has changed, or should, you can’t use the vulgarity you are used to spitting. When you think that they are not listening, one day they hit you with something like, ” uncle Tony you’re F*c***g kidding me are you. Four years old with the mouth of yourself. It’s a life changing experience.



I would rather own a Racehorse, sometimes they do win and pay for their upkeep.  You can invest a Bushel in a child’s upkeep, upbringing and Education, and they turn out to be Bums, use Drugs and hanging with the Underbellies of Society. So where did you go wrong,  you didn’t, they did, it’s a Crap Shoot. Sometimes you raise Thoroughbreds and other times strangers. I have met Educated adults who refused to put it to good use, move out and make their own way. Before they  get to that point they make your Life absolutely miserable, by acting like they are the Parents. Sometimes they are just Adolescents with big attitudes. By the time they turn Teenagers, they are ready to give you a good ass whipping.


You try to pass on to them the benefits of all you have learned about Life, and they think that you are Stupid, for trying to save them from the disaster of themselves . I am not just talking off the top of my Head. When I was fourteen I was a big Pot Head who drank colt 45. Thank God I kept my intemperance for the Weekend,  and not School hours, also thank God for a strong willed person I called Mom. As I said before the Challenge is Great. So the next time you think about making Babies, ask yourself, am I up to the aftermath.

Related Blog

Stand Up Dad

Making Babies and running off is an awful trait associated with Men, just about animalistic if you ask me. Bad enough when Men do it, but when a Woman meets a Man and run off leaving two young Daughters, that is despicable,I don’t care how good looking or Rich he is, I don’t even care if your marriage is horrendous. Your first priority is your Children. No matter what the circumstances are, your new Man don’t want Kids or your Husband is undeserving of you, first and foremost you are a Mother. Mothers are a special Breed, their propensity to Love care and nurture is unyielding. My Mother was incredible at the art of Motherhood, raising two Boys by herself, she was Mother and Father, a good provider, Teacher and Mentor. Struggling with two Boys, she once met a Man who professed his love for her, a Doctor by profession. He wanted to marry her, with one catch, he wanted her to put her sixteen and nineteen years old out of the House. I guess he feared that if he turned out to be Mr Hyde we would beat him silly, that request enraged her, she sent him packing. Now that’s A good Mother.



Philip was married for twelve years, came home one day and his wife was gone, leaving two young Daughters behind, to raise by himself. Being a stand up Dad, he embraced the challenge boldly. Children can be heartless people, the way they challenge disobey and disrespect us when we are trying our best. My only satisfaction I get from them being Brats, is knowing that their day will come when their own Kids will do the same to them.Philip’s Kids were brutal, they put him through the grinder with their attitude. They acted as if he was the one who ran their Mother off, when it was her own hormones that made her run off leaving them behind. He did his best as Mr Mom, putting his own life on hold for a long time. Making sure that he brought the right Woman home, to fill the void left by the self centered one who ran off abandoning her Family. One day he met a Librarian and decided to marry her, it is never a good idea to raise Girls alone. Girls need the female influence of a Mother, even just for rounding out. Needless to say the Girls did not welcome her with open arms. They were Vociferous and openly challenging and disrespectful. Disapproval was high, they did not care if she was Queen Elizabeth. She was not theIr no good Mother who they were too blind to disown and reciprocatively abandoned. The years progressed with little tranquility, one day through the act of God or goodwill by the new Mom,they came around and acknowledged that she is more deserving of their respect love and appreciation, than the one who gave them Birth. I guess the Lord do work in mysterious ways.