Chamblee54

Milliard Fillmore’s Bathtub had a cheerful post the other day about planned obsolescence, or as one lady describes it, Designed for the dump. It seems like most electronic gizmos these days are designed to be used until the next christma$ season, then disposed of. When they get tossed, they frequently go to a small town in China, where they become a toxic calamity.
The auteur of these cartoon videos has a series available at Story of Stuff . It should be noted that if you go to the site, you will be confronted with the evil known as AUTO START PLAYER . You are warned. There is a certain irony in telling this tale, about the downside of technology, using an obnoxious feature of this wizardism.
There are four videos available so far. They discuss cap and trade, cosmetics, electronics,and bottled water. The solutions presented are not always practical ( Best Buy is NOT taking back your old TV set). Some of the others…like skepticism  about drinking water claims… should be taken to heart. Even if you don’t change your lifestyle, the videos are fun to watch…on your new electronic device, with an expected use life of eighteen months.

Unqualified Offerings offers a history of Veteran’s Day. It seems as though Armistice day was originally a bittersweet celebration of the hope for peace. There used to be church services on the Sunday before the eleventh, to pray for peace.
The name was changed to Veteran’s Day in 1954. (This was roughly the time when “Under G-d” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance.) An effort was made to have the fourth monday of October serve as Veteran’s Day, but this did not work. ( The closeness to Halloween might be a factor.) The holiday was moved back to the eleventh, and became the sort of holiday that people observe at work and school.
Veteran’s Day can be tough for pacifists. The Veteran’s, who sacrificed to win our wars, should be appreciated. However, the fact that we fight these wars is destructive. The benefits these wars bring are seldom worth the cost.
The last statement refers to our recent adventures in Babylon. Obviously, America would not want to be ruled by Nazi Germany, although that was not probable. While the world may be better with Mr. Hussein, is it worth a trillion dollars, a wrecked economy, 100k dead Iraqis, and 4000 Americans ?