This follows Ray Tapajna's quoted comments in the Plain Dealer article about the Dark side of energy-efficient light bulbs. This letter was published in the Plain Dealer May 13, 2007 in response to the article.

By Ray Tapajna
Editor and Artist
Tapart News and Art that Talks
http://tapsearch.com/tapartnews/
tapin@safe-mail.net

ENERGY-SAVING LIGHT BULBS? WELL NOT EXACTLY

Michael Scott gave us an excellent report about the mercury contamination related to the use of CFL energy-saving light bulbs (May 4). However, there's more to it than this alone. Home Depot, on Earth Day, gave a million of them away free, saying it was like taking 70,000 autos off the highway in terms of pollution.

THE 8,000 MILES LIGHT BULB
Home Depot and Wal-Mart, which also promotes these bulbs, do not tell us how far one of the CFL light bulbs has to travel to get here. Ninety percent are made in China. This means a single CFL light bulb travels about 8,000 miles to get to the United States. We are not told how much energy is exhausted in terms of protective packaging, long-haul ocean shipping and truck and rail energy used in getting just one light bulb here.

On top of this, we do not know the extent of "dirty" manufacturing involved in China. Manufacturing these bulbs includes the use of coal, which produces mercury pollutants. There are no walls up to the sky protecting us from this pollution.

We should also note that the money spent by consumers for this product, like many others made in China and other foreign places, goes directly to the manufacturers in China to boost their economy, not ours.

Finally the China Ocean Shipping Co. brings products like this across our country on railroad flat cars containing large shipping containers. COSCO is owned in part by the Chinese Liberation Army. (note: How does this fit in with Homeland Security. Why worry about our borders when the Chinese Liberation Army rolls by over our railroads. Also, the empty shipping containers are an energy overhead too especially since the United States does not export much back to China.)

Ponder all this while you think you are saving energy using these light bulbs. Someone should ask the dysfunctional globalist free-traders like Al Gore about things like this.

Ray Tapajna
tapin@safe-mail.net
Plain Dealer May 13, 2007

( The IUE-CWA union had a large page ad in the Plain Dealer May 10,2007 titled Green Technology shouldn't mean a Pink Slip for American Workers and refers readers to ScrewThatBulb.org. )

See also Welcome Dysfunctional Globalists and Dislocated Workers who have no voice in the process of Globalization and Free Trade at http://ezinearticles.com/?id=545363

As former residents of the Philly suburbs, and current Reading PA residents, Berks.TV has a special interest in letting the Philly region know about some great places for a day trip just an hour or so down the road.

In our latest profile of West Reading, we feature the Arts Plus Gallery, an arts co-op that runs six shows per year. Each show features the best work of local artists.

The Gallery's main focus is to encourage and support local artists, provide a venue for young musicians and develop the local art community in general. The current gallery includes works in oil, acrylic, watercolor media, colored pencil, pastel, sculpture, stained glass, photography, and jewelry. Every two months, the gallery changes its show, making it worth a return visit.

Berks.TV recently sat down with two Nan Morrisey and Ida Orr to talk about the history of the Arts Plus Gallery and the kind of experience visitors can expect to get.

Interview with Nan Morrissey
Interview with Ida Orr

Berks.tv recently caught up with Sam Loth, Executive Director of the West Reading Main Street Program for a video interview on the 5-year West Reading revitalization project.

In the interview, Loth discusses the origins of the West Reading Main Street Foundation as well as its purpose in managing the borough’s Penn Avenue central business district. The West Reading revitalization project involves improving and beautifying the streetscape, improving overall safety, better traffic management and handling the water from storms.

To see great footage of West Reading and the progress that's been made, as well as the interview with Sam Loth, click here.

Last week, Berks.TV sat down with Ron Roth, Director and CEO of Reading Public Museum in Reading, PA. In a series of interviews, Roth discusses the history of the museum as well as its current mission and collection that focuses on art, sculpture, and science. We were glad to find out about the origins of the museum which date back to 1904 and the original collection of Dr. Levi Mengel.

Current highlights of the Reading Public Museum include the science exhibition “Cool Moves: The Art and Science of Movement.” Another unique offering that will be opening in the coming week is called “Bagels and Bach.” It will run Sunday mornings starting on October 15 and will feature a light breakfast and ensemble music with Dave Cullen in the museum’s atrium.

Part 1 of Video Interview With Ron Roth
Part 2 of Video Interview With Ron Roth

PostSecret, which is ranked as one of the top 10 most read blogs on the web, has made its mark as one of the most distinctive and interesting sites on the net. The blog features scanned images of anonymous postcard secrets that readers from around the world send in to the site's owner, Frank Warren.

Warren, the founder of PostSecret is displaying his postcards as an art exhibit at the Reading Public Museum through October 7th. This past weekend he gave a talk about his project that drew room-expanding crowds.

Berks.TV was able to catch up with Frank Warren, for his first ever video blog interview, to discuss how PostSecret began and what it has turned into. Warren describes how he almost sees PostSecret as a form of therapy for both himself and his readers.

Click here to watch the PostSecret video interview.

Berks.TV recently discovered a great place for nature lovers to visit that's only 1.5 hours out of Philly. It's called the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, a 2600 acre protected tract of contiguous forest intended to conserve and preserve the natural habitat of over 265 species of bird, especially large types like hawks, osprey, bald eagles, and several northern harriers.

The sanctuary is especially worth visiting in the fall when the diverse fauna begin changing their colors and the birds begin their migration. During this time you are treated to displays of fall colors, and large birds in their natural habitats. It is not uncommon to see thousands of birds in a single day.

Visitors to the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary are able to hike across expansive trails and there are staff throughout the reserve to answer any questions that you may have.

Berks.TV caught up with Hawk Mountain Sanctuary President Lee Schisler, Jr. to discuss the purpose of the sanctuary and what visitors can expect on a typical autumn visit.

Click here to see the video.

Started in 2004, the Reading RiverFest just recently completed its third year. The festival aims to feature local talent in Reading, PA and encourage community development along the Schuylkill River. The 2006 festival featured a variety of events and music from several bands including Maggie Spike.

Berks.TV was able to interview 2006 RiverFest organizer Cindy Kauffman about the purpose and vision for the event. Of prime importance is the desire to encourage a vibrant and self-perpetuating community life. Whereas in past river festivals, the tendency was to spend a lot of money to bring in well known acts, the current festival emphasizes Berks county talent.

RiverFest is one of many ways that the Greater Reading region is seeking to encourage development along the Schuylkill.

Berks.TV met up with John Scott to discuss the prospects for economic development in Berks County in an online video interview. Scott pointed to a number of attractive features that Berks County has to offer for future buinesses such as a strong workforce, access to major metropolitan areas, and the regions' high-quality of life which features the best of both rural and city living.

Part of Scott's role with the BEP is to help market and promote these attractive features of Greater Reading and Berks County to the rest of the world. At the center of their strategy is leverage the power of the internet as the marketing tool of choice.

Click here to view the interview.

Berks.TV was fortunate enough to catch up with Tito Rivera of the Hip Hop Culture Foundation in Reading, PA to discuss the power of musical culture as a shaping force in society.

In this video interview, Tito describes the gap between the gangster-oriented commercial perspective on Hip Hop and what he calls the “genuine Hip Hop” that focuses on the cultural expression of break dancing, graffiti, emcee’ing, and DJ’ing.

The idea behind the Hip Hop Culture Foundation, he explains, is to promote character and career development through the common language of Hip Hop. Tito envisions a series of programs that appeal to a variety of age groups and to single individuals over a period of many years.

“The Hip Hop Culture Foundation is about figuring out ways to develop our young people, to develop our community, and another part of it is to create a network, to create a real community and ways for them to interact,” Tito says.

Click here to view the video interview.

This past weekend, Berks.TV caught up with Governor Ed Rendell as he visited the 20th Annual Latin American Festival on Saturday afternoon.

Berks.TV asked Gov. Rendell about his hopes for the Latino community in Reading.

“Cities all over Pennsylvania have begun the process of revitalizing with state help,” he said, “but nobody has done it better than Reading. As that revitalizaton continues to roll out, we’re going to see more economic opportunities for the Latino community here in Reading.”

What about help for the Latino American children of Reading? Governor Rendell wants to continue to fund early childhood education to cut the gap between minority and majority achievement, and roll out a program called “Cover All Kids,” which aims to provide health care insurance for children who lack coverage.

Click here to see the video interview with Governor Ed Rendell.

The Martin Family band is a nine-member band specializing in Celtic fiddle tunes. They've been playing for about 2 years, after being inspired by a Canadian band they saw at the Midwinter festival in Philly.

Daughters Emily and Melissa play fiddles and dance. Five other family members perform, including mom and dad, with the rest of the band rounded out by drummer Earl Pyles and guitarist Steve Hartman.

Berks.TV caught up with the Martin Family Band's Elaine Martin (mom) to discuss how why they started playing music together as a family.

Click here for video footage of the band.

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Tonight 76ers President Billy King will be at the National Constitution Center for a one-on-one conversation with CBS 3's Sports Anchor Beasley Reece to discuss the achievements minorities have made in the rise from athlete to manager to owner, and the challenges that remain. Q&A with the audience to follow. The program is free and open to the public, and marks the final evening program that the Center will host in conjunction with their Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers exhibit.

WHAT: Breaking Barriers with Billy King
WHERE: The National Constitution Center; 525 Arch St Independence Mall
TIME: 6:30 pm
ADMISSION: FREE, but reservations are required: 215-409-6700

I had the pleasure of speaking with Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Valerie McDonald Roberts here in PA last night on the phone for forty-five minutes after a long day on the campaign trail which didn't end for her until well after sunset. The race is for the #2 spot in the 6th most populated state in the country and she's a very progressive/liberal person with a progressive political agenda. This position could be called a vanity position, but not with a person like McDonald Roberts at the post. Seeing progressive candidates in statewide races gives me hope and a sense that all is not lost. We've still got some great candidates to fight for.

Philly Future is pleased to announce our newest Featured Blog which comes courtesy of the Save Ardmore Coalition. We sent the webmaster over there some questions to hopefully help those unfamiliar with SAC's work get better acquainted with what they're about. Our questions, and their answers, follow the break.

We'd also like to take a second to remind our visitors that we now have a dedicated feed page (including a blogroll) just for the sites that have been honored as Featured Blogs in the past. It should make for some good reading. Now without any further delay, we present the Q&A session for the most recent addition to that list.

Memphis hip-hop ledgends Three 6 Mafia will be performing their Academy Award nominated song "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" on this Sunday night's Oscar telecast. Founding Mafia member Juicy J. sat down with us yesterday for an exclusive interview. He is realer than you.


1) Why do you guys spell out the three but use the number 6?
Gimmicks, man, just gimmicks. We started out with three and then we were six, but it's just gimmicks.

2) What's your favorite juice?
Orange juice. Actually grapfruit juice, cause it burns fat.

3) As Memphis residents, what was your initial reaction when you first heard about [NYC rapper] Memphis Bleek?
I didn't have problem with that. I like Memphis Bleek.

4)There are several references to shrimp in your work. With the oscar nominated "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" bringing you newfound exposure, have you thought about recording "It's Hard Out Here For A Shrimp"?
(laughs) Nah, no. Not right now.

5) Is it better to "Stay high" or "Stay fly"?
Is it what?
Is it better to "Stay high" or "Stay fly"? (extremely long pause) Hello?
Yeah, I'm here. Can you hear me?
Uh, yeah.
(extremely long pause) Stay ha-a-a-a-a-igh and fly-ay-ay-ay-ay!

6) And finally, any advice for the kids?
Stay in school and don't be a fool.

Download: Three 6 Mafia - "I Gotta Stay Fly" (feat. Young Buck, 8ball, MJG) (follow link)
Download: Three 6 Mafia - "Sippin On Some Syrup" (feat. UGK) (follow link)

You may have noticed that there are six questions above. Why is the segment still titled "5 Quetions"? Gimmicks, man, just gimmicks.