DEC: Ban the Burn Barrel

The New York State Department of Enviormental Conservation is studying a proposal to inistitute a state-wide ban on all open burning to target the pollution caused by the backyard burn barrel. I have fond memories of going out to the burn barrel to dispose of newpapers, food packaging, and other household wastes with my grandfather back when I was younger.

This article from the Plattsburgh Press Republican reports that

the state currently bans the burning of all residential waste in any city or village or in any town with a total population greater than 20,000. However, that ban does not cover most of the communities across the tri-county North Country.

The new DEC proposal strengthens that law by extending the ban to all open burning regardless of town size, with such exceptions for barbecue grills, small wood fires, some on-site burning of agricultural waste and ceremonial or celebratory bonfires that use untreated wood or other agricultural products.

I do a lot of traveling across Jefferson, Saint Lawrence, Franklin, and Clinton Counties for my job, and I see people using burn barrels all across the North Country. The DEC is not very popular in this area, and this proposal won't do anything to change that. It will be interesting to see what kind of reaction this proposal generates.

Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA): You Didn't Believe Us, Did You?

Here's a great YouTube clip of Democractic Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania answering a question during a recent town hall meeting. Here's a transcript of the clip:

"We (Democrats) didn't say it, but we implied it that if we won the Congressional elections, we could stop the war. Now anybody who's a good student of government would know that wasn't true. But you know the temptation to want to win back the Congress, we sort of stretched the facts, and people ate it up."

No lesson, no moral. Just a brief moment of honesty about dishonesty.

Don't Blame the Yaris

The big news in the North Country this weekend is that two young men died this morning in a car crash after drinking at a party. The driver was a 17 year old and his passenger was a 20 year old. The news story mentions that the two were traveling in a Toyota Yaris and shows a picture of the demolished car.

I drive a Yaris myself and love the car. Hopefully people won't get all hysterical over this tragedy and blame it on the tiny car. The article states:

The driver then over corrected exiting the north shoulder. The car struck several trees and became airborne. It ended up rolling over several times across Route 11 and came to a rest against some trees on the south shoulder.

I doubt very much that any vehicle is designed to protect its occupants from bouncing off several trees and rolling across the highway.

Simple Living: Can You Dig It?

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about money, budgeting, and lifestyle choices. In a few months, I am in line for a big raise that will dramatically increase the amount of disposable income I have available. If I don't start to plan for how that money should be saved and allocated, I know that I am going to piss it away.

So it was with great interest that I read this article in the New York Times this morning. The article presents a brief profile of families preparing for big changes in their lives through an embrace of simple living habits. While I have no intention of giving away all my stuff and moving to Vermont to live in a house without electricity, I do think that there is plenty of room to make positive changes in my life.

At an earlier time in my life, I was very fond of the personal debt-reduction philosophy advocated by Dave Ramsey and others. This philosophy was packaged in conservative Christian ideology, but it has the same fundamental elements as the Simple Living Movement. Both philosophies believe that happiness and success in life can not be found through the pursuit of material goods financed through increasing amounts of personal debt. Therefore, the first thing to do is to get on a budget and devote any extra money to debt reduction.

That is a clear and achievable battle plan if ever there was one. For too long, I've been traveling without a plan. So it's time to get back on a budget and kick the crap out of my credit card debt.