I was reading an article on the Time.com website about how abandoned ships are damaging the environment. That article talked about how a lot of fishing vessels that were sunk (either on purpose or accident) still having fishing gear on board and the fishing gear (nets and traps) continue to “fish” forever. The article also talked about how sunken vessels leach iron and fuels into the water, which contaminates the water and eventually enters the food chain and is consumed by humans. Another problem mentioned is how one vessel attracted an organism that ended up killing a nearby coral reef.

This is an environmental problem that needs to be addressed internationally, but little is being done. Owners of these ships are usually only fined about $100 for abandoning their ship, which is much less money than it would cost to recover the ship and have it dismantled properly. The government is taking steps to clean up the mess at the taxpayer’s expense, but I think that the shipowners need to be held more financially accountable, and not force the taxpayer to clean up THEIR mess. I think that if you can’t afford to pay the piper, then you shouldn’t go to the dance!

Posted: May 23rd, 2009 under Green, Internet, Issues, News, Online.
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I was so surprised when I turned on the news and heard that Maine has finally legalized gay marriage!  I thought that Maine was liberal in many ways, but I also thought that it was too conservative for that!  After all, there have been many times in the recent past when the people of Maine tried to get “gay rights” legalized, and if I recall correctly those rights were never passed.  So it was a huge surprise that gay marriage is now legal!  I wonder how this is going to “go over” in the conservative segment of the population!  It will be interesting to watch and see what happens!

Posted: May 6th, 2009 under Issues, Life, News.
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I was reading in the newspaper that night time cross country skiers in Bangor have been subjected to owl attacks! Ouch! Personally I don’t understand why anyone would cross-country ski at night! I enjoy cross country skiing, but I want to ski during the daylight hours thank you very much! It’s much easier to be “found” if I run into trouble. Anyway, this territorial owl is swooping down on unsuspecting skiers and slashing their heads with it’s claws! I wonder if these people are wearing hats with pom-poms on them and the owl thinks they are rabbits!?

Posted: March 11th, 2009 under Entertainment/Fun, Life, News, Sports.
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I was reading in the local newspaper that the peanut recall has been expanded to include some snack foods sold at the local Cumberland Farms convenience stores!  The recall is for Cumby’s snacks - the hole in one snack mix and the honey roasted peanuts!  Up to now I had gotten the impression that the peanut scare was not around here!  I’m sure that we haven’t bought any of those snacks, but it really is a scary thing.  You have to wonder what foods ARE safe to eat anymore!

Posted: February 20th, 2009 under Food and Beverage, Health, Life, News.
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What a historical day today is!  I was watching the inauguration day on television, marveling at how many people braved the cold weather to stand outside and watch the ceremony.  I hope they don’t all catch pneumonia from being out there!  Well, I sure hope now the country can get down to business and fix these problems we are having!

Posted: January 20th, 2009 under Life, News, Politics.
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