‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
Clean Power?
By Peter Molenaar Tucked in the south-west corner of the Phillips Neighborhood is an impressive facility dubbed the Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center. The Center saw our Congressman Keith Ellison play host to a “celebration of the Clean Power Plan.” Yes, the aggrandizements were well distributed, to be sure. However, my inner voice rudely screamed, over and over: “What”'s the plan for the plan, man, what”'s the plan for the plan?” Let”'s assume, as some people do, that vast wind and solar farms might sustain a modern economy and prevent social disaster. Then, by what source of energy would we arrive at this happy conclusion? Answer: a heavy draw from coal fired plants. (Note: I worked 35 years at Smith Foundry.) Meanwhile, glaciers and icecaps disappear. True, existing coal fired plants might achieve a 30% emissions reduction by switching to natural gas. But, wait. Synfuel, derived from natural [...]
Magic Stone
By Peter Molenaar Apart from the smooth “water stones” deposited by the last glacier was a jagged chunk of glassy black obsidian fused to a layer of grainy brown basalt. Evidently, some billion years ago, there had been a torrential rain in conjunction with volcanic activity. It is the southward path of Portland Avenue which leads ultimately to Pond Dakota Mission Park, and the high ground overlooking the Minnesota River Valley. From this vantage, herds of woolly mammoths once pondered the water bursting eastward from Lake Agassiz. Then came the ancient peoples who paused at the spring fed streams, springs which are familiar to me. Later, the Iowa-Oto people occupied and mingled before they too were displaced (and mingled) by the Dakota”¦ Does the GREAT SPIRIT animate all things? Electrons spin clouds around the nucleus, at about one-tenth the speed of light. I am afraid. (more…)
“Democracy” and Bees
My butternut squash plants have commenced to flower and set their early fruit. Like all curcubits (squash, melons, cucumbers, gourds, pumpkins) they are monecious, meaning the male and female aspects are embodied in one plant. However, the flowers themselves are not hermaphroditic. The male and female blooms are separate. The males reveal in morning, only to fade before the day is done. By then bees will have gathered the pollen, and the sperm contained within. Nectar laden females flower the following day, blossoms adorning the miniature fruits with their ovaries and eggs. Joyous bees appear positively ecstatic! But what? Market forces, the profit motive, and corporate domination are killing off our bees. I have in hand two letters from Susan Allen, my state representative. She writes: “Thank you for contacting me to share your support for Governor Dayton”'s proposal for a minimum 50-foot buffer strip along waterways”¦to help increase water quality in our [...]
