A greener 4th of July.
A greener 4th of July.
Scientists are increasingly worried that the beautiful fireworks millions of Americans will be watching this Independence Day contain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to the environment. A particular focus is perchlorate, which helps “create the combustion reaction needed for the explosion.” According to a 2009 article in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, “the amount of perchlorate in nearby bodies of water could increase by anywhere from 24 to 1,068 times the amount present before the fireworks, and that it takes 20 to 80 days for the chemical levels to subside.” When ingested, perchlorate can hinder the thyroid’s production of growth hormones. In response, some chemists are looking for other solutions, including cleaner-burning fireworks that use nitrate-based oxidants.
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What a fitting tribute to the current state of American democracy – celebrate with toxic displays of “shock and awe”.
No wonder the corpocracy loves to underwrite these events.
July 4th, 2009 at 11:53 amWhy do they hate America?
July 4th, 2009 at 11:54 amWell you liberals are going to ruin everything. Now the price of going to watch free fireworks displays is going to double and I won’t be able to take my pretend children to them anymore. /troll
July 4th, 2009 at 11:55 amThere is NOTHING about our current culture, life-styles, or consumption patterns that is NOT destructive to the long-range survival possibilities of our species and life in general, on the planet as we now know it.
If fire-works are contributing to the decline, and they surely are, then just phucking QUIT IT!
jayzus, are you people outta yer phuukin minds?
July 4th, 2009 at 12:04 pmtokin librul – but it whips the masses into such a frenzy and sells a lot of highly-processed and chemically stabilized hot dogs and cheap-swill beer.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:06 pmAnother Joe:
July 4th, 2009 at 12:15 pmIS this about health care?
Ya gotta pick your battles man. If you go after fireworks, you will lose, because they are awesome.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:17 pmIt will be if you eat enough said hot-dogs and load up on enough cheap-swill beer.
It will also be if you attempted to carry out the physical threats that routinely post – little boys like you talk tough but immediately fall in line when mommy threatens to spank your little @ss.
Good job, TP – haven’t see days and days of backwash posts lately. There are meaningful threads and one directly related to key issues each and every day!
Refreshing change, no dumb@ss?
July 4th, 2009 at 12:18 pmwrong side of the bad Another Joe?
July 4th, 2009 at 12:20 pmoops that ought to be bed. Whatever…
July 4th, 2009 at 12:23 pmNope – grateful that haven’t seen an unknown and totally marginalized wingnut elevated to frontpage status when those very same days there were key public statements, legislative debates, and roll-calls votes on the change we were promised in the fall.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:26 pmSantorum?
July 4th, 2009 at 12:27 pmOh dear, our traditional red, white and blue fireworks are not “green enough” for some folks in the 21st century in America. Thank god, I’m old and we didn’t have to worry about all this shit back in the innocent 1950s…
O/T: She’s the nutty lady of Moose Killer Lane, and she’s only nine (times five) years old…
July 4th, 2009 at 12:28 pmI’ve always thought a public flag burning would be the best way to celebrate the 4th.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:28 pmI think I’ll burn effigies of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld instead.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:30 pmGood news, folks; my right-wing friend tells me that the weather has been below average in terms of temperature in Kentucky the last few weeks, so Global Warming is no longer a credible concern.
That’s a load off, huh?
July 4th, 2009 at 12:32 pmdamn, dbadass – missed that thread, but that day, there were many more, including posts directly and exclusively about healthcare.
A little red-meat is good for the base, but people that regularly read this blog don’t want to see it become a parade of ignorance 24/7
July 4th, 2009 at 12:33 pmAW, isn’t that cute? Zooey’s stalker is wishing her a happy Fourth.
Someone get him a grape soda, okay? Poor feller must be thirsty.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:34 pmIf the neocons had their way we would bomb a different country every 4th of July. This year it would be either N Korea or Iran.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:36 pmThis is great news for the species – smaller people consume less food, you can pack more of them on elevators, and even adults can shop for clothes in the kiddie department.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:39 pmHere endeth the snark..
I would like to thank all the little people , behind the scenes that made this day possible .
July 4th, 2009 at 12:41 pmI’d like to thanks the 1000’s who died defending rights which are now being thrown away ,defended in a losing battle by a handful of activists and progressive bloggers against both parties .
I would like to thank the men and women of the plains and their departed leaders , sitting bull , dull knife , crazy horse and all the other diverse cultures ,too many to mention here, who were starved, lied to , mistreated , afflicted with the earliest form of biological warfare .Whose children were shot , and finally re educated by their great white father in Washington and stripped of their culture , languages and dignity .
I would like also to thank the buffalo for having the good sense not to go entirely extinct after being decimated by the “civilized ” from the windows of the Iron horse .
I would like to thank the the slaves and indentured servants who helped the aristocracy on the east coast get settled in and who the 14 th amendment which has been used 10 times more often to defend the rights of large corporations than to legally defend their inalienable rights as individuals , was actually written for.
I would like also to thank as well the millions in South America and the “global south ” who have lived in abject poverty and hopelessness and their US backed dictators ,in order to make my appliances cost less on the open market in the first world .
Thanx .
I guess in my area we all are going to die… Everytime the Reading Phillies win, I hear the fireworks going off… Damn those Phillies!
Well if the air that we breath, the water that we drink doesn’t kill ya, than I guess watching those beautiful sparklers that burst in the sky showing all those pretty colors will…
Happy 4th everyone…
July 4th, 2009 at 12:42 pmThe nature of the threads has not changed at all. Your approach has after the humiliation. Call it whatever you wish we are all just happy to see the evolution…
July 4th, 2009 at 12:43 pmWhile the Republicans are doing their best to give us public displays we can oooo and aaaaah, it just isn’t the same.
But greening up fireworks is a good idea.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:44 pmLOL dumb@ss
There have been NO posts of nationally unknown wingnuts in several days – YEAH!!!!!!!
July 4th, 2009 at 12:48 pmBut you can be sure if TP decides that holding dems and obama accountable is NOT newsworthy and that posting 24/7 backwash is, you will see comments about it here!
But we can sit back, wait to see if the 24/7 backwash returns while other blogs are breaking news, and see what happens.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:50 pmDawn1954
July 4th, 2009 at 12:51 pmDoes the peanut bar still exist?
green up fireworks? but faux and the noise machine will have a FIELD DAY – everyone knows the US is all about ol’ red, white, and blue
July 4th, 2009 at 12:51 pmNothing said liberty and independence like a box of M80’s and a bottle of whiskey.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:56 pmDamn, I miss the good old days when we were free enough to have to legally blow ourselves up with high explosives.
Who needed a fishing rod when you could tie an M80 to a rock and drop them off a dock?
/
911 the day the US overthrew the democratically elected government of chile .Which Obama does not belive warrants an apology even if he sat through a press conference with a woman who is the elected president there , whose father was tortured to death , and who together with her mother was also tortured .
July 4th, 2009 at 12:56 pmObama ,close the school of the Americas !
oh oh, freeman, posting anything about holding dems and obama accountable here is likely to draw flames and insults from a very vocal minority…
July 4th, 2009 at 12:59 pmcorrection:
free enough to legally blow ourselves up
July 4th, 2009 at 1:00 pmAnd the rockets red glare , the bombs bursting in air … ect.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:05 pmNationalism IS racism !Praise the lord and pass the ammunition
Zeig Heil !
Uh oh, too late… I see Zooey’s stalker has already moved beyond grape soda and gotten into the grain alcohol…
July 4th, 2009 at 1:10 pmWell… at least posting that kind of stuff over and over and over…
July 4th, 2009 at 1:12 pmThere was a line in a Simpson’s episode, I can’t remember it exactly, but it goes something like this, “Yes, every year your country celebrates it’s independance by blowing up parts of it.”
July 4th, 2009 at 1:12 pm1 million (?) killed in a war for oil ,with a re branded occupation. 4 million men, women and children refugeed .
July 4th, 2009 at 1:13 pmPeople held without basic rights in military prisons, black sites , and foreign prisons torture and killed as Obama attempts to expand the Bush’s legal rationale to assure there will be no accountability .
The more things change the more they remain the same … apparently .
Obama contemplates executive order for detention without charges .
July 4th, 2009 at 1:16 pmhttp://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/06/27/preventive_detention/index.html
#13 Oval12345678 aka James K. Sayre Says:
I wonder how many here will know the lyrics to that old tune — but I remember!! And you made me smile.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:17 pmObama promises to renounce signing statements .
July 4th, 2009 at 1:20 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seAR1S1Mjkc
Yet another reason to leave the Democrat party. What a bunch of buzz killers you are. If anyone bothered to read the blog you would have seen that it takes up to 80 days for the perchlorate to dissipate. The 4th of July is once every 60 days? You know sex raises rates of respiration which exhausts CO2. I know you don’t have sex, but I’ll never quit.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:21 pmfreeman Says:
[...]
Obama ,close the school of the Americas !
my sister, a nun, SSND, has nun friends who go to georgia (is it?) to protest that “school”… one was arrested and even served time…
Happy Independence from King George Day, USA…
i do love the fireworks… “cleaner-burning fireworks” sounds promising… made in the USA sounds great too…
July 4th, 2009 at 1:23 pmdbadass Says:
——————————————————————————–
Dawn1954
Does the peanut bar still exist?
————————————————————-
Yeah it does, and still is on Penn Street…
Happy 4th..
July 4th, 2009 at 1:25 pmDid I miss the linkage of this topic to political ideology? I read a brief statement regarding environmental chemistry…
July 4th, 2009 at 1:26 pmI am sort of inclined to wonder howdrew3rd knows who is and who is not copulating but we all know he just made that part up…
Obama sides with bush on spy case .
July 4th, 2009 at 1:28 pmhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/22/obama-sides-with-bush-in_n_160170.html
Obamas stance on Gaza basically the same as bushes … Chomsky
July 4th, 2009 at 1:31 pmhttp://i1.democracynow.org/2009/1/23/noam_chomsky_obamas_stance_on_gaza
Do they still have those burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan where everything from chemical weapons to medical waste are burned in huge open pits? Soldiers come back with serious health problems. Some of them are even unable to walk after being poisoned by these things.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:31 pmActually, he said “having sex,” not “copulating,” and since masturbating is technically sex he can claim to have it. In fact, since it’s a holiday today, he’s gonna go lefty…
He also said “sex raises rates of respiration which exhausts CO2…” Increasing respiration would increase the amount of CO2, not exhaust it, but since that’s scientifically proven fact, neoCons feel free to ignore it…
July 4th, 2009 at 1:34 pmDawn1954
July 4th, 2009 at 1:36 pmIf you have the chance can you swing by their and have a fishbowl of Yuengling porter. It is on me
cheers-
The Moderate Squad
July 4th, 2009 at 1:38 pmnice catch on the aerobic respiration situation…That boy needs to review that whole Kreb’s cycle dealio…
On a more serious note…
So by this logic, all we have to do is not drink any water for 60 days and we’re golden? But I’m thirsty now…
July 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pmPosse comitatus . obama will put 20 000 more troops on the grond in the US by 2011 .
July 4th, 2009 at 1:45 pmhttp://willyloman.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/change-my-ass-more-posse-comitatus-violations-to-come-under-obama/
Noam Chomsky
July 4th, 2009 at 1:55 pm“The former chief economist of the IMF, Simon Johnson, pointed out that the Obama administration is just in the pocket of Wall Street. As he put it, “Throughout the crisis, the government has taken extreme care not to upset the interests of the financial institutions or to question the basic outlines of the system that got us here.” And the “elite business interests” who “played a central role in creating the crisis…with the implicit backing of the government,” they’re still there, and they’re “now using their influence to prevent precisely” the set of “reforms that are needed, and fast, to pull the economy out of its nosedive.” He says, the economy—“The government seems helpless, or unwilling, to act against them,” which is no surprise, considering who constitutes and who backs the government.”
.
Maybe that stuff will counteract some of the hormones that are already in the water. People are getting too big anyway. Pretty soon, there will be only one seat per row in every aisle.
Anyway, Happy Fourth! My consumer reports on “Public Enemies” & the new Star Trek movie, just in time for the DVDs.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:57 pm.
Oh say can you see ?
July 4th, 2009 at 1:57 pmSeems you want me to see only what you see…
July 4th, 2009 at 2:01 pmGenerals who led coup in Honduras trained at the school; of the americas
July 4th, 2009 at 2:03 pmhttp://www.soaw.org/
dbadass Says:
Sure, I like Porter, but since I am not a beer drinker, I don’t drink that much. I doubt that Kramer’s would ever leave Reading, nor the Ugly Oyster, or the biggie… The Pagoda.. These are the landmarks in Reading.
Here is a trivia question for the 4th, Many years ago they were going to tear down the Abe Lincoln Hotel, but the city of Reading wanted to make this a historical place. John Philip Sousa died there on March 6, 1932 when he was accepting an award.
July 4th, 2009 at 2:04 pmYou have that luxury DB ,you and I are living large in a wealthy country with all the ammenities . None of us would be as cavalier as refugees or amputees or prisoners held without charges in secret black sites .
July 4th, 2009 at 2:11 pmEver see Robert Fisks photos of iraqi’s picking through piles of the dead looking for their childrens body parts ?
Besides I am really not that simple .
Dawn1954
July 4th, 2009 at 2:22 pmI inherited a valuable piece of American art from a gentleman who resided for sometime at that Hotel…
Your culinary preferences would be hard to match all over most of South America where hot water is a luxury and very undependable ,and the list of chemicals in a food is 10 times as large as the actual food ingredients , due to a total lack of decent refrigeration and laws protecting the consumer from Nestle .
July 4th, 2009 at 2:28 pmReally.
freeman Says:
Posse comitatus . obama will put 20 000 more troops on the grond in the US by 2011 .
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/change-my-ass-more-posse-comitatus-violations-to-come-under-obama/
July 4th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Yeah, right. Willyloman also KNEW the election would be stolen for McCain.
July 4th, 2009 at 2:34 pmAfter Hugo Chavez was kidnapped during a coup attempt aided once again by our benevolent leaders , the poor turned out in such numbers from neighborhoods not included on any maps that the would be and self appointed leaders chickened out and gave him back .
July 4th, 2009 at 2:35 pmAs the 1 questioner from the South American press at the Obama / Bachelet press conference the other day pointed out ….. there has never been a coup in the United States .
Zooey heres the article from the Washington post .
July 4th, 2009 at 2:36 pmhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/30/AR2008113002217.html?hpid=topnews
Heres Rachel Maddow on the subject of indefinte detention for your viewing displeasure .
July 4th, 2009 at 2:39 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk4mGbWx3a0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Esalon%2Ecom%2Fopinion%2Fgreenwald%2F2009%2F06%2F27%2Fpreventive%5Fdetention%2Findex%2Ehtml&feature=player_embedded
Ther cult of personality and rock stars is over !
July 4th, 2009 at 2:52 pmself be your guide
self be yuour leader
do not look for any other leader
Gautama the Buddha Dhammapada
Declare your independence out of reverence for the many who died for democracy .
July 4th, 2009 at 2:53 pmI have had some fine meals in developing nations. Haiti comes to mind. Anyway keep in mind that food preparation has existed long before the power grid. Most of these folks eat food which is far less processed thus reducing the artificial ingredients which taint proceessed convenience groceries…
July 4th, 2009 at 3:17 pmOkay there is some truth to that DB ironically the VERY VERY poor despite the general lack of food through the winter and the desperate conditions among the fringe dwellers in the slums of their major cities ,who have left the agrarian life for cardboard and tin housing can’t afford to buy the food I’m talking about .
July 4th, 2009 at 3:27 pmSo only the ” middle class” there is lucky enuf to die of cancer .
I stand 1/2 corrected .
July 4th, 2009 at 3:32 pmNow please dispose of my other arguments so I can go happily back to the spiritual life and concentrate on better diversions than the body politic .
I still plan to take U up on that Philly cheese steak sandwhich in Oct when I’m on the east coast.
As alluded to above, how many of the the fireworks sold to celebrate the USA are actually made elsewhere (like Asia) ?
July 4th, 2009 at 3:43 pmdbadass, are you from Berks County? I was raised here, but born in Pottstown…
Hold on to that art work. Have it appraised every now and than!
Have a great one…
July 4th, 2009 at 4:32 pmThere probably is something else, besides perchlorate, but would cost 2 to 3 pennys more. Big Business fouling the earth again for a profit. Make no mistake fireworks are big business.
July 4th, 2009 at 5:38 pmSo freeman you’re willy loman? That’s funny because I thought Another Joe was willy loman.
July 4th, 2009 at 5:44 pmI just try to be myself Shane .
July 4th, 2009 at 6:18 pmSo how do you feel about indefinite detention , or the washington post article on posse comitatus ? Will there be 20 000 more troops stationed on American soil to help handle emergencies ?
Actually I only learned of this article which was in the wapo as i was looking for something to post on the fly , sorry a google search led to Mr loman who I haven’t actually spent any time reading , though I am familiar with his name .
I thought you guys liked Rachel Maddow ?
Actually I’m Avalokiteshvara in a bikini … why ?
July 4th, 2009 at 6:42 pmThe Maha Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra
Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva
When practicing deeply the Prajna Paramita
Perceived that all five skandhas are empty
And was saved from all suff’ring and distress.
O Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness;
Emptiness does not differ from form.
That which is form is emptiness;
That which is emptiness, form.
The same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness.
O Shariputra, all Dharmas are marked with emptiness;
They do not appear nor disappear,
Are not tainted nor pure,
Do not increase nor decrease.
Therefore in Emptiness, no form,
No feelings, no perceptions, no impulses, no consciousness;
No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind;
No color, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind;
No realm of eyes and so forth until no realm of mind-consciousness;
No ignorance and also no extinction of it, and so forth until
no old-age and death and also no extinction of them;
No suff’ring, no origination, no stopping, no path;
No cognition, also no attainment.
With nothing to attain
The Bodhisattva depends on Prajna Paramita
And the mind is no hindrance.
Without any hindrance no fears exist;
Far apart from every perverted view the Bodhisattva dwells in Nirvana.
In the three worlds all Buddhas depend on Prajna Paramita
And attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.
Therefore know the Prajna Paramita
Is the great transcendent mantra,
Is the great bright mantra,
Is the utmost montra,
Is the supreme mantra,
Which is able to relieve all suff’ring
And is true, not false.
So proclaim the Prajna Paramita mantra,
Proclaim the mantra that says:
Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate! Bodhi! Svaha!”
July 4th, 2009 at 6:48 pmUpaya = blogging
July 4th, 2009 at 6:58 pmany questions ?
Oh you are so right, Zooey… they didn’t NEED to rig the election for McCain… they got everything they wanted from Obama.
Course, I do remember saying right before the election, and I think it was on your own blog if I recall, that they couldn’t possibly have stolen the election, with anti-republican sentiment running so high…
Instead, what they HAD to do was find a Manchurian Candidate… one that would run as a “progressive” and then rule as a neo-con… and guess what?
But though you do throw up a nice little smoke-screen (I guess you learned that little trick from all the “trolls” you used to take such pleasure in “bashing” here for 8 years) the simple fact of the matter is, freeman is absolutely correct.
July 4th, 2009 at 7:14 pmNow let’s all chant together for the sake of all living beings……..
July 4th, 2009 at 8:05 pmWouldn’t it be ironic if it were shown that perchlorate is actually what’s behind the increase of autism? After all, autism has been steadily increasing, even though mercury has been removed from vaccienes. However, the use of perchlorate in firewors (and the use of fireworks in general) has been increasing over the years, and perchlorate exposure is well-known to damage or inhibit thyroid functioning – especially in young children…
Just saying…
July 4th, 2009 at 8:10 pmor perhaps a passage from the mashnavi at the oregon country faire.
July 4th, 2009 at 8:17 pmCome by bus .
July 4th, 2009 at 8:19 pmWow trolls. Stupid must be your choice of stupid.
You don’t have to go green, or you can choose which green you prefer or you can stfu and get the hell out of the way. These are viable options.
Trolls, you all are choking on stupid, silliness and hypocrisy.
July 4th, 2009 at 8:45 pmTrolls, shouldn’t you all be teabaggin?
HAHAHAHAHA
July 4th, 2009 at 8:47 pmfreeman Says:
Posse comitatus . obama will put 20 000 more troops on the grond in the US by 2011 .
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/change-my-ass-more-posse-comitatus-violations-to-come-under-obama/
Yeah, for nuts like you!
Yay!
July 4th, 2009 at 8:56 pmDrew there is no such thing as a Democrat party you ignorant piece of filth. Since you so stupid you dont even know the name of the larges political party in America we can see that you are truly a brainwashed ignoramus regurgitating the bilge Rush instructed you to think. What a pathetic punkass troll you are
July 5th, 2009 at 12:24 amAll fireworks should be banned! They are dangerous! They contribute to the rising cost of health care. They hurt the ears of all animals as well as scare them almost to death. Its torture pure and simple and just the same as water boarding! Any Democrat that participates in this activity is not a true Progressive at all. Why to you hate mother earth so much? I expect Nancy and Harry to start legislation immediately to ban all fire works, PERIOD! This is a new generation of hope and change. It need not include these stupid, ridiculous, dangerous, harmful redneck rituals of the ancient past!
July 5th, 2009 at 1:48 amGive it up SlappyMoron. No pity for you. Your begging is too pathetic for normal human beings. Get some self respect man. Stop begging us all the time. I know you are too stupid and pathetic to have any pride but my GOD stop humiliating yourself
July 5th, 2009 at 3:00 amI am more concerned about the increase in greenhouse gases brought about by the consumption of 68 hotdogs within a short timeframe.
I am more concerned that the holiday we just celebrated has nothing to do with what America is actually about these days.
July 5th, 2009 at 5:17 amwhoohoo….Joey chestnut is “the man”
July 5th, 2009 at 9:10 amOnline Müzik Dinle Müzik Dinle Türkü Dinleme sitemize bekleriz, Ayr?ca bu Muzik Dinleme ve Türkü Dinleme Sitemizede Bekleriz.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:02 amWhatever branch of science that is wringing its hands over this issue should lose its subsidy. One hell fire missile in Pakistan contributes more crud to the atmosphere than all the fireworks put together. Put down that calculator and get a slide rule.
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July 8th, 2009 at 5:34 pm