GUEST POST from Don – Ineffective Action +

INEFFECTIVE ACTION +
(DOING “SOMETHING” ISN’T WORKING)

Hey!  We’ve all done it, right!  A fly lands on the edge of the counter (its almost always an edge) and being a “professional” fly killer you swing your arm and slap the counter with your hand…and the fly is already gone.  Instead of finding a flyswatter you try “something” less effective.

A recent Grist article illustrated the ineffectiveness of doing “something.”  That wasn’t their purpose.  I guess they wanted readers to celebrate the “try.” New technologies are helping to regrow Arctic sea ice they said in their headline.

OK, first, the technology they talk about is not “new.”  We have had this technology for over 40 years.  With 8 major pumps Arctic sea ice was thickened by 20” by pumping sea water on top of the ice already there.  Except the experiment added ice thickness to less than ½ square mile.  Did I mention that Arctic sea ice covers 3.9 million square miles?  We’d need a hundred thousand pumps (at $5,000 each and multiple hours of set-up and recovery per pump = $500 million and 300,000 hours of work every year, + energy).  [By the way 300,000 hours is 37,500 man-days (1,500 workers) living and working in sub-zero weather.  Cost to pay them, transport, feed and house, and equip them would be an additional $65 million each year.]  How much CO2 would that add into the atmosphere even if it could be done?

Thanks, Grist!  …but…no thanks.  

NEXT . . .

Melinda French Gates on what billionaires with ‘absurd’ wealth owe back to society
April 15, 2025 Heard on Fresh Air

I found her comments awkward.  Wealth is NOT absurd.  If it was no one would seek wealth.  What is absurd is poverty!  There are causes of both and of the two the causes of wealth are the better.

Also, billionaires are not the only people with absurd wealth.  So do many legislators, actors, and sports stars.  Ordinary folk do not earn a million (or billion) per a year.  Ordinary folk cannot afford a mansion and sports cars and multiple trips to France.  We Ordinaries might get one chance at a foreign trip.  We might own 2 average older cars and a 3 bed, 2 bath home with a propane grill out back.  We don’t go to $100 per plate restaurants all the time.  

So, Gates, billionaires are not the only people who owe back to society.  I recommend a few things:

First, pay your taxes.  I am not a big believer in progressive taxes generally and I do think more families should pay into the system.  If your family earns a thousand dollars, your federal taxes should be at least $1.  You use the roads, bridges, and tunnels that the government funded.  Thus, I believe everyone should pay SOMETHING toward the common good.  In other words, if billionaires owe back, so do all those who use the services provided by government (US Mail, roads, Amtrak, unemployment insurance, parks, etc.).

Second, provide for YOUR family.  A billionaire should be supporting the education and retirement of heirs to the fourth generation.  Who cares if they can afford anything else?  But they should not be receiving student loans or Social Security benefits.  Education and retirement plans should be funded by the estate.  Why should ordinary taxpayers do that?  This would take a burden off society.

Then millionaires can probably support the next 1 or 2 generations in their families.  Upper middle class (people earning over $100,000) at least one generation.  Take care of your own families.

Third, set up a fund to support a local charity for 50 years.  Recovering people require a load of community resources and your fund can alleviate part of that burden.  Local millionaires and even ordinary folk can create long-living charity trusts.  Why should charities be always trying to make a go of it with restrictive budgets which fluctuate from year to year?

Fourth, education is the great equalizer.  Billionaires can fund tutors for failing students.  You don’t have to look far or hard to find them.  They are in your own local public schools.

Not being a billionaire has not stopped me from owning a business, raising a family, or getting an education.  Life is to be enjoyed and cherished.  Why are we worrying about how much someone else has?  Enjoy what you have and stop imagining that more dollars is the way to happiness.

REPLACING PILLOWS.

There are hundreds of news articles about microplastics in our lungs and guts.  Of course much of those microplastics come from the wear and tear from tires.  Tires wear faster on heavier vehicles, so why are we pushing heavy e-cars on everyone?

My wife says, “Look at the sliced processed cheese we eat.”  I say, “We are supposed to replace our pillows every two years, but the filling and/or cases can include various plastics.  I wonder…”  There’s this ad for $60 pillows:  “DIORIS Pillows Queen Size Set of 2 – Luxury Hotel Bed Pillows for Sleeping, Supportive Side Sleeper Pillow for Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief, Down Alternative Fill for Back, Stomach Sleepers.”  Guess what the fill is made from?  POLYESTER!!!  Let that sink in a minute … Good gracious!  And none of the scientists thought to check what we are breathing from our pillows?

Then there are all those microfiber cloths we have been told to buy and use (I absolutely detest them, by the way, since every hangnail or other piece of flesh not nailed down gets caught on them.  I refuse to use one without wearing a hand mitten.)  Throw them in the dryer and (*poof*) hundreds of pieces of microplastics are blown into our homes.

So, did you know that many of the foods you enjoy on occasional basis (like grated Parmesan) have something that isn’t food in them.  They put in powdered wood to prevent “caking.”  (I actually would prefer a cake.  Did I just change the subject?)  Why aren’t we worried about the wood they are putting in our guts?

Stop blaming plastic water bottles for the microplastics in our lungs, they come from our pillows.  We put our heads on microplastics every night for 6-9 hours.  Good Gracious!  How simple is that!!!  Next pillow you buy should be made of natural fibers inside and out.

Copyright 2025 Donald Whelpley

[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]

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