My Truck is Carbon Neutral

Yesterday, I bought a road TerraPass.
This program offsets the carbon dioxide emissions of vehicles, airplanes and home energy sources by funding alternative energy projects, like wind energy.
The TerraPass website calculates the emissions, then figures out the contribution needed to offset that amount of CO2 pollution. For my truck, it works out to about 12,000 pounds of CO2 a year, a pound per mile.
I found out about the TerraPass program at work: their hosting company is a corporate member.
A study published earlier this year estimated that servers, including cooling and auxiliary infrastructure, consume 1.2% of the total electricity in the US – about the same as color televisions.

Still Doesn’t “Get It”

I’m in the minority who didn’t vote for Deval Patrick and, given his track record in the first nine weeks in office, think my judgment was right.
Whether or not you agree with the finer points, Governor Patrick managed to stir up a lot of contention with a number of decisions to do with personal style: the lease of an expensive car, the hiring of a political supporter as his wife’s chief of staff, an “improper intervention” in a financial deal involving Ameriquest Mortgage, on whose board the governor served.
This week, he got involved in a federal matter concerning the arrest and possible deportation of some 300 illegal workers in New Bedford, people who worked under horrendous conditions but were nonetheless in violation of this country’s laws.
One cannot help but wonder if the governor would personally intervene in a case involving an ordinary citizen who was arrested for criminal activity and whose children were relegated to the not especially tender mercies of the DSS, especially if that citizen wasn’t represented by a powerful and well-funded lobby, as seems to be the case with illegal aliens.

Continue reading Still Doesn’t “Get It”

Money Matters

I attended part of the town’s school committee meeting last night. Prior to the meeting, I got to chat with the elementary school principal and two members of the Finance Committee, including the chairman.
I knew that the elementary school has the lowest rate of absenteeism in the district, even though class sizes are probably double what they should be for early childhood education.
I learned that they also have the highest rates of volunteerism in the district.
Those are indications of a good administrator. Besides, she’s a fan of my youngest grandchild who, by the way, loves his school.

Continue reading Money Matters

Wake-up Call Long Overdue

From this morning’s Boston Herald:
SALEM – A mother who prostituted her 8-year-old daughter to a man in exchange for crack cocaine was sentenced Friday to 15 to 18 years in state prison.
Mary Jean Armstrong, 38, was charged with seven counts each of child rape and indecent assault and battery, two counts of inducting a minor into prostitution and other child-abuse charges.
Armstong later told police her daughter had been molested as many as 50 times in a two-year period.
Police began investigating in 2004 after a rapist, Richard Lapham, showed photographs of him raping the victim to an acquaintance who later stole those photos and handed them over to police. Lapham is now serving a 15- to 18-year prison sentence.
When investigators searched Lapham

Continue reading Wake-up Call Long Overdue