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Toxins kill salmon, but it’s not your problem

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An article in The Seattle Times covers research that finds toxic runoff from roads kills salmon. The only solution discussed is filtering the runoff through soil, which would poison the soil rather than fish. The author neglects to ask any questions about the source of the toxins, or whether all of us should address our culpability in a system that is causing this problem.

This is a classic Seattle Times story – ostensibly showing concern for the environment, but not addressing relevant issues that might disrupt the status quo.

Vancouver Island Roadtrip

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May ended up being an excellent month to spend ten days traveling around Vancouver Island. Lucked out with weather, and crowds of people were not to be found. Covered a lot of ground – click on the image below to view pics from the trip on Flickr.

Vancouver Island Roadtrip Map

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

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“If our young men miscarry in their first enterprises, they lose all heart. If the young merchant fails, men say he is ruined. If the finest genius studies at one of our colleges, and is not installed in an office within one year afterwards in the cities or suburbs of Boston or New York, it seems to his friends and to himself that he is right in being disheartened, and in complaining the rest of his life. A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont, who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it, farms it, peddles, keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, in successive years, and always, like a cat, falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days, and feels no shame in not ‘studying a profession,’ for he does not postpone his life, but lives already. He has not one chance, but a hundred chances.”

Not much to say…

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Despite an unforgettable six weeks in southern africa, I ended up having a difficult time sharing my experiences via writing. It turned out to be much more difficult to compose essays on my phone, which was my only way of connecting for all but about a week of the trip. It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that a mobile phone is great for short bursts of communication but not optimal for composing extended journal entries. The problem isn’t so much the form of text entry since I can compose very quickly on a mobile keypad. The problem is more in the difficulty in reviewing and editing when only a tiny portion of any entry can be seen at once. I’m hoping to put together some thoughts about the trip once I’ve settled in back home, and will be posting some additional photos from my digicam (all the photos posted on Flickr during my time at Selati and during the drive were taken on my phone and posted directly from the phone to Flickr.)

Photos from the trip here…