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More Than One
Issue 2
-Table of Contents-
1. Editorial
2. Letterz!
3. Solar Power (Excerpt from CENSORED)
4. Fear of a Utopian Planet
5. You're Next!
6. Stop the Planet, I Want Off!
7. An Ode to Ozone (Excerpt from CENSORED)
8. It Speaks
9. Woodstock (C) (R) (TM) '94!
Comments, questions, anything else of relevance, should be directed towards
mto@foul.cuug.ab.ca
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Editorial:
We-hell.... I started this issue in about the middle of summer, right
after doing the last issue. It's now about.... Well, Halloween to be exact.
So yeah, I've been putting alot of time and effort into this. I was
actually just getting comfortable in my Working-Guy routine, so now that
I'm comfortable... Lets get the show on the road again.
Alot of this text may seem outdated at this point, but some of the ideas
presented still hold some semblence of validity, so I decided to leave them
in.
This is a fairly small issue, due to the fact that instead of continuing
where I left off, I would rather just start over again on the long awaited
(yet unheard of) More Than One #3.
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Wow, I actually got a letter! Well, I got lots of mail, but not all that
much pertaining to the magazine or its contents.
---
Greetings. I just finished reading MTO001, and I was quite impressed. Most
of the things in there I had heard about in one manner or another, but seeing
it all put together into a nice coherent package was definately better.
Some mention of the Drug War and its misgivings were included... How about
something in the future about the problems which would be fixed INSTANTLY
given the legalization of currently controlled substances like marijuana, LSD,
as well as the countless other lesser-known halucinogins and euphorics that
cause less physical harm than your average cigarette or bottle of wine?
The War On Drugs fails to distinguish between drug-related, and
drug-related-violence deaths stemming ENTIRELY from the illegalities of the
drug trade. Were most of the now-illegal drugs to be legalized, a) no one
would be killed over 'territory', b) fewer overdoses would be possible due to
government regulation, and distribution of 'standard' dosages by government
agencies, c) the government would rake in HUGE piles of tax money, and d)
people would be healthier and, overall, happier.
A 'joint' of marijuana contains one substance: marijuana. You know what you
are getting when you smoke it. You cannot be physically addicted to marijuana
(nor can you be physically addicted to many of the other Evil Killer Drugs
sought after by the War Against Drugs).
A cigarette bought from the supermarket, however, contains literally HUNDREDS
of varieties of poison, seeking to fill your lungs with tar, your blood with
carcinogens, and your brain with nicotine.
As everyone is well aware, cigarettes are VERY addictive. "Even more so than
heroin," according to those who apparently have had the misfortune of being
addicted to both. If cigarettes are so bad, and if all the things in them are
bad, and if they are more addictive than one of the most physically addicting
substances known to mankind, why, may I ask, are they available over the
counter and out of dispensing machines anywhere you go?
Similar arguments can be made against the use (and sale) of alcoholic
beverages. Alcohol makes many people violent, overly brave, and, let's face
it, plain stupid. Alcohol causes sclerosis of the liver in people who imbibe
a bit too often. THOUSANDS of people are killed annually by people driving
under the influence of alcohol. Yes, those are all GREAT things. Things we
should have MORE of in this already fucked up world. In the USA (perhaps not
in all States), they sell beer and wine at gas stations. This is just
perfect. People can drive around all night, getting both gas AND beer in one
convenient spot, running merilly over pedestrians and into other cars as they
go.
In this case, marijuana is probably not a wonderful substitute. For some
people it may be, but, like alcohol, it should probably never be used while
driving. If, however, someone DOES decide to drive under the influence of
marijuana (or any other perception-'heightening'/altering euphoric), their
reaction time will likely be better than those of the same person under the
influence of alcohol (in quantity).
You may not agree with some of this, or, indeed, any of it, but that is your
prerogative. I would be happy to argue about anything if you are like-minded.
Oh yes, I am entirely against cruelty to animals as well, so we can't very
well argue about that. I do drink milk, but not in quantity. I will probably
quit drinking it entirely in the near future, though. I do not eat eggs, and
I do not eat meat, either, so those are out, too. I guess we have nothing to
argue about after all. Damn. Cruelty to vegetables? sure, I laugh and point
like all the others, but that's ok, isn't it?
The Ranger
---
I'm not all that sure about which problems legalization would stop and
which it would cause. There would be an obvious increase in the number of
people using the currently illegal drugs, I'm sure. And with this increase
would probably be an increase in apathy which seems to go hand in hand with
the use of drugs.
Even if 'most' of the currently illegal drugs were legalized, there
would always be someone fighting over territory. Look back into the Chicago
gang era. The main cause of violence in the drug trade is not the drugs,
it's the money that the drugs generate. And even if marijuana and LSD were
to be legalized, there would always be new and innovative illegal drugs to
fight and die for.
The number of chemicals in marijauna is actually also in the hundreds.
Chemicals can also be added to marijuana just as they are added to tobacco.
While you may not be able to get physically addicted to marijuana, there is
still such thing as psychological addiction.
Cigarettes are indeed very addictive, and quite destructive from what I
have seen and experienced myself. I'm currently a smoker. One of the few I
know who fully supports and agrees with the anti-smoking movement. There
are several ways one can quit smoking. Self-help groups, nicotine patches,
nicotine chewing gum, or just be a real Punk Rawk god and do it yourself.
I, however, am obviously not a real Punk Rawk god.
Alcohol is also a problem I see in society. Which makes me a hypocrite,
because as of recent I've 'fallen off the wagon' and been drinking. I've
never been violent when drinking, perhaps a bit overly brave, and perhaps a
bit stupid, but not violent. I think the major thing that attracts people
to alcohol is that they get an excuse to act stupid. Perhaps if people
lighten up and take into mind that you only live once, they wouldn't need
depressants or stimulants to have a good time. [Note: Taking into mind that
you only live once is NOT the same as saying 'who gives a shit'. One has to
realize that if we have had our chance to live and make our mark on society
(which is hopefully not a gaping wound) that it is our responsibility to
make sure that others that come after us also have the same chances.]
Cruelty to animals is something alot of people are against. Alot of
people however either do not consider cows/chickens/pigs (the majority of
meat people eat) to be animals, or do not think that living out your entire
life in a cage and ending it all off with having your throat slit, dumped
in a pot of boiling water, to be cruel. People do not want to give up their
leather, and their hamburgers. And once again, I am a hypocrite. I wear
leather boots. I wear a leather belt. I still eat meat on occasion. But,
if I was faced with the decision of buying leather boots, or non-leather
boots today, I would choose the non-leather. I have cut down drasticly on
my meat intake. I plan on cutting it out entirely once I know what
suplements I need and what vegetable foods I should consume. Once again,
thank you for writing.
- Bobby
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Taken From "CENSORED: The News That Didn't Make The News--And Why"
By Carl Jensen
Solar Power Eclipsed by Oil, Gas and Nuclear Interests
Synopsis: On November 27, 1991, the California-based solar energy firm Luz
Internation Limited announced that it had filed for bankruptcy. Luz
designed, built and operated the world's nine largest Solar Electric
Generating Systems (SEGS), which generated 95 percent of the world's solar
electricity.
Luz's collapse reflects the problems faced by a solar power industry
shackled by hostile government policies and the protection of natural gas
and oil interests. While the Department of Energy (DOE) claims to be
committed to the development of solar energy, the facts reveal that while
the cost of generating solar power has decreased 73 percent from 1980 to
1990, federal research and development (R&D) spending on solar energy has
decreased 90 percent.
Presently, the nuclear industry receives more than 70 percent of the
DOE's funding outlays for technology-specific development. According to the
DOE's R&D budget, the total administration request for nuclear fission and
fusion for fiscal 1993 is $1,377 billion, an increase of $100 million from
1992. However, the total request for conservation R&D, renewable energy and
state and local conservation, combined, is just $768 million, down $100
million from 1992.
Investigative author Julie Gozan reports that if it weren't for the
government subsidies, nuclear power would be priced out of the market.
Gozan notes that while the cost of solar is down to 8 cents per kilowatt
hour, the cost of producing nuclear energy is nearly 13 cents per kilowatt
hour.
According to an article in the Christian Science Monitor, the next
generation of solar plants, which had been planned for construction by Luz
in 1994-5, would have brought the costs down to 6 to 6.5 cents per kilowatt
hour--less than the cost of natural-gas electric generation.
Government obstacles to safer, cleaner energy go beyond fiscal favors
for nuclear power and the oil and gas industry. Lawmakers set a cap of 80
megawatts on the amount of energy that a solar plant can generate and sell.
Luz, which had the capacity to build SEGS that would generate 200
megawatts, or enough energy to meet the electricty needs of 200,000 homes
daily, was forced to build plants below this optimum usage and had to
"dump" solar energy rather than use it.
Author Gozan also reports that in order to compete with oil and gas,
solar power must somehow match hidden government subsidies given to
conventional fuels. Oil and gas receive the equivalent of a 25 percent tax
credit. These include an immediate tax write-off for drilling costs and
"percentage depletion" for the cost of pipes, pumps and tanks used to
complete a well.
As Luz International Chairman Newton Becker observed when the company
filed for bankruptcy, Luz's demise was not attributable to technical or
economic failure; it was simply the result of our not having a national
energy policy. Meanwhile, environmentally sound solutions fall victim to
money and politics.
Sources:
Multinational Monitor
PO Box 19405
Washington, DC 20036
Date: April 1992
Title: "Solar Eclipsed"
Author: Julie Gozan
The Christian Science Monitor
One Norway Street
Boston, MA 02115
Date: 3/12/92
Title: "Unbind Solar Energy From Washington's Red Tape"
Author: James Weinstein
[
And here's a little something that just kind of goes hand in hand with
the last one. ]
Plutonium is Forever
Synopsis: In the 1950s, a nuclear energy critic warned "nuclear waste is
like getting on a plane, and in mid-air you ask the pilot how are we going
to land? He says, we don't know--but we'll figure it out by the time we get
there." Well, 40 years later we're ready to land our nuclear plane, and we
still haven't figured out how to do it.
Each year, the nuclear industry produces tons of high- and low-level
waste not knowing what to do with it. Nicholas Lensen, a researcher at the
Washington-based Worldwatch Institute, estimates the world-wide volume of
nuclear waste at more than 80,000 tons. In 1990, the world's 413 commercial
reactors produces 9,500 tons. And that's not counting the tens of
thousands of tons from weapons programs, and medical and industrial uses.
In 1989, U.S. reactors alone produced 67 times the plutonium it would take
to give everyone on earth lung cancer.
There have been two great hopes for nuclear waste disposal--Yucca
Mountain in Nevada and the Waste Isolation Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico.
Yucca Mountain was selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) as the
national "permanent repositor for high level nuclear waste." But after ten
years of research and $6.7 billion spent by industry including $2 billion
in taxpayer funds, not a single hole has been dug in the mountain. The
primary obstacle to the Yucca Mountain site is public opposition. In June
1992, a 5.6 tremor confirmed fears in Nevadans already leery of their state
becoming the permanent home for tons of waste which remains dangerous for
hundreds of thousands of years. It now appears that their repository will
evolve no further.
Unlike Yucca, WIPP is not intended to house high-level waste but rather
low-level nuclear garbage--radition contaminated rags, rubber gloves, test
tubes, pipes, etc. Nonetheless, the dangers of radioactivity in this waste
make it imperitive that WIPP not leak (appreciably) for the next 10,000
years.
Incredibly, the site selected for WIPP is in a stratum of salt thought
to contain significant amounts of brine. The DOE itself estimates that
within 20 years of burial, the thousands of soft-steel drums containing
waste will corrode and their contents will be exposed. Despite the
potential hazard, however, WIPP seems destined to open. It is the only
existing repository and, with the apparent demise of the Yucca repository,
the pressure for a dump site is building. In any event, critics say that
WIPP is only a partial solution. To contain the volume of
plutonium-contaminated waste currently in retrieval storage across the
country would require three WIPPs; to hold the entire backlog of military
and commercial waste, ten WIPPs would be needed.
Yet another hurdle must be jumped--what kind of a sign do you put up to
warn whoever may be inhabiting the earth in 10,000 years to "Keep Out" of
WIPP? The simple "keep out" sign probably would not suffice. As Alan
Burdick reminds us, of the original Seven Wonders of the World, only
one--Khufu's pyramind in Egypt--still stands, a mere 4,500 years old;
Stonehenge is a thousand years its junior. And remember, plutonium is
forever.
Sources:
Utne Reader
1624 Harmon Place, Ste. 330
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Date: July/August 1992
Title: "Plutonium Is Forever"
Author: Monika Bauerlein
Harper's Magazine
666 Broadyway, 11th Fl.
New York, NY 10012-2317
Date: August 1992
Title: "The Last Cold-Way Monument"
Author: Alan Burdick
Los Angeles Times
Times-Mirror Square
Los Angeles, CA 90053
Date: 7/26/92
Title: "All Shook Up"
Author: Jennifer Warren
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Cholesterol Content of Common Foods
Animal Food Plant Food
-------------------------------------------
Cholesterol Content
(In Milligrams per 100 Gram portion)
Egg, Whole - 550 All grains - 0
Kidney, beef - 375 All vegetables - 0
Liver, beef - 300 All nuts - 0
Butter - 250 All seeds - 0
Oysters - 200 All fruits - 0
Cream Cheese - 120 All legumes - 0
Lard - 95 All vegetable oils - 0
Beefsteak - 70
Lamb - 70
Pork - 70
Chicken - 60
Ice cream - 45
Source: Pennington, J., _Food_Values_of_Portions_Commonly_Used._
Harper and Row, 14th ed., New York 1985
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Fear of a Utopian Planet
By Bobby Quine
I've been hearing alot about gun control lately. The need for more
gun control laws, no wait... less gun control laws... or was it bigger guns
for officers of the law... maybe it was bigger guns for movie stars... In
any case, I began thinking (wow), what would the world be like, if there
were no guns? Well "hmmm," I thought, lets pretend:
Earth
- One Instrument Of Death & Destruction
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= a beautiful utopian planet???
Well, not really. We've found hundreds of thousands of innovative ways
to inflict death and destruction. Guns however, are seemingly the most
popular among the masses. Perhaps because of their wide variety of styles
and shapes. I can just see myself in a gun shop now, "Ooooo, look at that
baby, wouldn't you love to blow a quarter inch hole through someones head
with that!" Yes. I am being sarcastic.
I'm all for rights and freedom, but would the world be a horrible
place if we all lacked the ability to go out and purchase a "killing
machine", with which we could pointlessly end animal/human lives, take
out old man Stanford's christmas lights, or perhaps even rob a bank? For
some strange reason, I doubt it.
I'm all for fighting crime, as well. However I fail to see how police
officers carrying larger, more powerful weapons, is going to put an end
to crime, or even have a slight effect on the amount of crime, for that
matter. Does a bank robber contemplate how large the police officer's gun
is going to be when he robs a bank? I wouldn't know, I've never robbed a
bank before, but for some strange reason, I have trouble believing that
too.
The world may not be a beautiful utopian paradise without guns, but I'm
almost positive it would be a better place than we happen to inhabit at
the current moment.
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YOU! Yes YOU!
I was reading the paper, and what do I come across but the old
"Grandpa Kills Over Computer" story. A rundown is in order for those of
you who are not familiar with the scenario:
MANILA -- A Filipino grandfather shot and killed his daughter because
she wouldn't let him play with the family computer police said Sunday.
Retired soldier Benjamin Raymundo, 60, was so incensed by his 29
year-old daughter Jessica's refusal to let him use the computer he shot her
in the face in their Manila home Saturday night, investigator Justiniano
Estrella said.
Raymundo also fired at his eight-year-old grandson but missed.
He then fled and is still at large.
(Taken from section A2 of the Calgary Herald on Monday, July 18, 1994)
So I'm left wondering, what the hell is going through people's heads? Why
is it that stupid things like this are happening on a daily basis?
Another example:
There was a story not too long ago of a man who started shooting at a
car for no apparent reason. Upon questioning afterwards he said that he
began shooting because the license plate "JABU" on the car had reminded him
of a traumatic incident in which he had been stabbed in prison.
You'll have to forgive me for saying so, but I find this kind of
behaviour absolutely moronic. A man kills his daughter because she wouldn't
let him play with the family computer? Another is thrown into violent
flashbacks because of a license plate? How long can we continue to think of
ourselves as the 'intelligent' species when things like this are happening?
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