Today at work I got a rare treat, I got to listen to talk radio! As I listened I heard an interesting blurb about the auto industry, along with six governors, have asked Congress for $10 - $15 billion in bailout funds. The thought struck me that when people know you have money everyone comes out of the woodwork to ask for a handout.

Since we (the taxpayers) gave the banking industry $700 billion and Congress is thinking of giving them more it seems that everyone now needs a bailout. The banking industry has come back to Washington saying they need a bailout from all the credit card debt America is not paying on. America in is buried under approximately $900 billion in credit card debt. In the month of August, according to the AP, the rate that banks write off credit card debt as unpaid rose 48% from last August to 6.8%, that equals $61.2 billion. We might as well call it $62 billion and write that check as well, but wait there is more!

Today the esteemed Gov. Patterson of New York and NJ Gov. John Corzine pleaded the house ways and means comity a bailout saying that states would not be able to pay medicade and other important expenses with out this bailout. Echoing the governors was the Mayor of Trenton, NJ Douglas H. Palmer, saying his city wouldn't be able to provide basic services without a bailout too. All three endorsed a $90 billion bailout which might be added to the $150 billion that Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has endorsed as a second "stimulus package".

Lets do a little math, lets add:

700 billion - Original bailout
15 billion - Auto
62 billion - Credit Debt
90 billion - State/City bailout
150 billion - second/ "main street" bailout
=___________________________
1,017,000,000,000

or

One Trillion seventeen billion dollars

or

your share is $3,377.17

or

1,600+ wars in Iraq (at the time of this writing)

Whatever happened to fiscal responsibility?

Red whats?

It may look look like a pile of trash in a bin but this is now home a couple hundred little red worms (red wigglers or Eisenia fetida if you like). This shredded paper is used as bedding for the worms. Paper is used for several reasons, it's easy to find, it's cheap (Junk mail has found a use!!!), and more importantly it retains water well. This is important for the worms to breath, dry worms are dead worms so a moist environment is very important.

Why worms you ask, well it's simple really, worms break down organic matter by eating things like protozoa, fungi, and bacteria. All three of these eat the rotting organic matter (This also part why compost smells; bacteria and everything living on the compost release the smell as they eat the rotting matter; vermicompost doesn't smell as bad as regular compost.) and in turn are eaten by the worms.

More to follow...

Over Due

Yes I'm over due for a blog posting... something like two years over due and I'm sure this will make many of you who want to know whats going on in my life very happy.

I am planning on spending a good deal of time on one of my newest weird thoughts Vermicompost. The standard compost pile with a pound of red worms added for support.

More to follow...