Hi,
Before I start whining, I would like to point out that my Crocosmia common name Lucifer has just stared blooming. I love this plant, it isn’t at all like my favorite Heliconia common name Lobster Claw, it makes me think of it. Heliconia is very prolific in Hawaii and can be grown in S Florida, but won’t grow up here, even indoors. Here’s my Lucifer individual flower:
And here’s the whole bush:
While we’re talking about plants, here’s one of my my new lilies:
Next weekend, the Deutschtown Music Festival is happening Friday and Saturday July 12 &13. 300 bands on 30 stages some indoor, some outdoor see the above link for details.
Now, it’s OK for me to start whining, my first gripe is with the “manager” of Pittsburgh’s recycling program. After years of me holding that mantle of Manager to now being Innkeeper both titles require the holder to solve problems, not to make their life easier. Every time I hear him speak (or read an interview) there’s something else we’re not supposed to recycle. As long as I’ve recycled I’ve known not to recycle thin cardboard with the waxy coating like soda & beer boxes. Pittsburgh doesn’t recycle Styrofoam, but I collect Styrofoam in my basement and can take it to the Appliance Warehouse on the Southside. Recently I heard him say we shouldn’t put pizza boxes in with cardboard because it has grease on it. I’ve heard him complain about the blue bags they require us to use that the blue bags clog the machinery. He’s also complaining about plastic bottle caps, even though they are made of the correct plastic that can be reused because they also clog the machinery. Instead of whining, why not be a manager and find a solution. My heroes in recycling is Sweden. They built a trash to power plant (actually I think several) in the 1980’s and when Sweden decided to recycle, they were so effective that they ended up having to get trash from Denmark to burn. (One of my earlier posts, I said Sweden bought trash from Denmark and a Swede corrected me, Denmark pays Sweden to take the trash). 🙂
Recently I’ve been hearing comments that we need to openly discuss race relations and I totally agree, but it needs to be a comprehensive conversation, not a sugar coated one side. Something happened last week that got me thinking again about this, a resident of Greenfield saw some kid in a construction vehicle that was unattended next to a kids park. (This area has been the site of recent vandalism). The resident confronted the kid and ended up on top of him while the kid’s sister was yelling at the adult to get off her brother and recording the incident on her phone. I heard this initially as it was somewhat breaking news. The latest versions I have been hearing are omitting the fact that the kid was in the vehicle, just pictures of this adult man on top of a kid. The news interview the kid’s mom and she was rightly upset that an adult man was on top of her child, no mention was made of the kid being in a vehicle without permission. The adult man says he called 911 several times and no police officer responded so he took matters in his own hand. #! no adult should be on top of a child for any reason. #2 the news needs to be fair and unbiased, not trying to be politically correct.
Which brings me to my next subject, Antwon Rose. It’s been a year since Officer Michael Rosfeld shot and killed Rose. Something not mentioned since the incident was that Rose was in a vehicle that was involved in a drive by shooting. Being involved in a drive by shooting should not have anything to do with Rose being shot and killed by Rosfelnd. I would like to know if Rosfeld had any knowledge about the drive by shooting in a near by community and if so what. Whether Rose was the shooter in the drive by or not does not in the least justify him being shot (maybe in the leg to stop him from fleeing). The use of excessive force needs to stop and one big way to do this is to get rid of all these small police departments that don’t have the resources to adequately train their officers.
Besides talking about all aspects of racial interactions, not omitting facts that do have relevance, the last thing I would like to whine about is several years ago I read where the biggest cause of death for young black men where shootings by other young black men. This is something I see being addressed by faith groups in black neighborhoods and this has be be address by society at large to figure out a solution.
Lastly, if you are a white supremacist or other hateful group, please do contact me. I know for a fact that most of you are STUPID, if you were smart, you would have gone to college or a trade school start a career and moved on instead of sitting in your double wide drinking beer blaming the world for you lazy self. I would love to connect you with the FBI, there’s agents that would love to talk to you. You are the “Base” we hear so much about. And I believe you will be too STUPID to see what I just said. 🙂
Alright guys & gals, and everyone in between, 🙂
Happy Fourth of July,
ed
John Mayer is performing at PPG Paints Arena July 28 get your tickets now and book your room at The Parador. Remember the arena is just a short “T” ride from my Inn and is totally free. 🙂
