Water Crisis in California

The water crisis in California is reaching a peak; if nothing is done to stop this crisis from worsening, this vital resource will slowly but surely disappear. There are some areas of California where there are water laws in place to make sure people conserve water. In Los Angeles they are taking strict action to be sure everyone is following the water laws they have set into place. Such as: no watering lawns on rainy days or between the hours of 9am-4pm due to evaporation, no washing sidewalks, no washing driveways, and no washing cars with a hose that doesn’t have a shut-off nozzle. They have a task force set up specifically to enforce these laws along with a hotline number that citizens can call if they see any cases of misusing water. There are heavy fines set into place for those who break these laws. Those who frequently break these laws have the fines doubled, and if broken enough they will up to quadruple these fines. A different approach is being taken is by Long Beach. They are giving incentives to those who conserve water. They are providing rebates for companies and citizens who install water conserving devices into their homes or buildings. These include water saving shower heads, low flow toilets, washing machines, and irrigation controls. These are the steps that need to be taken throughout the entire state of California.

The problem is that California did not address water as a crisis until much too late. California is a desert, which means it is scarce of water to begin with. California has always needed to import water from places such as Colorado. Conservation is something that should always be a main concern in an area that is forced to import all of its water, but it wasn’t considered a big deal until fairly recently.

California needs to put a conservation plan into place. One model it can build after is Denver. Denver is taking a huge step in the right direction towards water conservation. The main distributor of water to Denver is a company called Denver Water and it has developed a whole water conservation plan. The main goal of this plan is to reduce water usage by 22% by 2016. That would mean a 46 gallon a day reduction from the pre-drought usage of 211 gallon per day. A solid plan based on conserving so water can be provided in the future and droughts will no longer be a crisis. Offering incentives and rewards along with saving money encourages people to conserve water and be aware of the amount they are using daily. Only then will California be on the road towards getting out of this continuous state of drought.

Response to "In Defense of Food"

Why do people choose to eat products that are unhealthy for them?

People choose to eat products that are unhealthy, because the foods that are the most unhealthy are usually the most convenient, cheapest, and taste good. Fast foods are the biggest example, they are convenient and fast, they are very cheap (as little as 69 cents for a taco or 99 cents for a taco), and taste good because they are packed with fats, Trans fats, and salt.

What roles/ responsibilities does the government have in framing your choice? Should they be responsible for educating us? Should they be responsible for managing all products we consume?

The government in my opinion should have more responsibility in the stuff that is put into foods in America. They should not allow some of the stuff that passes as food these days to be eaten. A lot of foods these days, particularly in fast food, are not even food. They are by-products of by-products of by-products that used to be connected to something that could be considered food. Yes I think if they don’t have the say to take away the foods that are slowly killing people, then they should definitely be responsible to educate people about all of it. I feel they should be responsible for managing all of the products we consume but I think it is far too late to begin regulating everything now.

sociology

This one is just funny.. :]

Do you think the United States should interfere with other countries affairs?

I personally think that the US get into others countries affairs way too often. I understand that yes sometimes other countries do need some help and there is a good time to help. But when they obviously do not need help (from another country or the us to say the least) then why would we go in. The US really needs to focus on all of its problems at home before it even thinks about trying to help others. I think for some reason since the small amount of help we sent during WWII helped so drastically the US feels as though they can help everyone in need even if our own country is collapsing beneath out feet.

Barder the Bastard Dog

Barder the bastard dog was flying along one day with his trusty child on his back, this child was half man half dog and was born from his ex wife whos name was Lucinda, who died in a tragic peanut butter accident. As he was flying along he came across an injured man. He landed and asked the man if he needed any help. The man said he had been stabbed by the tooth fairy and the only way he could heal is if they found a t-rex egg and made an omelet out of it. He said he had a very specific blood type where he could heal from any and all wounds as long as he had a t-rex egg omelet. So onwards Barder the bastard dog and his child, whose name is not pronounceable in english, went on their epic adventure to find a t-rex egg. They flew all over the globe and could not think of anywhere where they could find the egg. They then passed the laboratory of Dr. Shnitzindoodle in Munich and flew down to see if he could help them. They knocked on the door a few times, but no answer. Suddenly they heard a voice say,
"What the hell do you want?!"

"Wow what a rude douche bag" Barder whispered to his son. "We came to ask for help!" Barders son yelled to the door.

"Why did you come to my house then asshole?!" Dr. Shnitzindoodle replied.

"We figured a scientist like you could help us with our dilemma" Barder said as all he was thinking about in his mind was how much of a prick Shnitzindoodle was. The door slowly opened.

"What is it you need help with?"

"We are looking for a t-rex egg" Barder explained.

"How do you think I would be able to help you?!"

"Time machine?" Barders son asked.

"HELL YEAH, I'VE BEEN WAITING TO TEST THIS SHIT OUT!" Dr. Shnitzindoodle yelled.

He took them to a secret back room in his lab where there was a big machine covered with white sheets. He pulled off the sheets and unveiled the giant pink marshmellow like time machine.

"What the hell is that.." Barder asked.

...to be continued...

The Tragic Tale of Jabba Lady

One day Jabba Lady, having just gotten off of a twenty minute train ride realized that she was hungry after not eating since she got on the train, it takes her only mere minutes to be so hungry so starts shooting people in the face with rage. This was one of the longest periods of time she had ever gone without eating and it was beginning to get out of control. She ran as fast as she could out of the train, immediately breaking a sweat, but her fast running was a mere brisk walk. Her stomach started getting out of control so she rushed to McDonalds for her favorite meal of chicken McNuggets. She couldn’t hold the urge to eat any longer and she began seeing everything and everyone in her line of sight as food, til the moment she snapped, she grabbed the nearest baby and busted out her handy dandy bottle of hot sauce she always had in her purse. She quickly covered the baby in hot sauce and devoured him. She was still hungry as hell and she decided to keep on her quest to McDonalds. Once she reached there she ordered her usual of a 300 piece chicken McNugget meal. After finishing this snack in a record time of three minutes, she was still hungry. She walked up to the cashier as if to order more food but suddenly she took out her hot sauce bottle and covered the cashier in hot sauce and shoved his head in her mouth and bit it off. After devouring the entirety of the adolescent cashier she had but one bite left being the big toe off his left foot. She smothered the severed limb in hot sauce and popped it in her mouth and started choking after a minute or so in her struggle for oxygen she finally ran out and fell on the floor dead. There ends the tragic tale of Jabba Lady.