Small Time Blog

The Recycling Movement: Not Moving

by Bradley Voight on 09/28/12

In these modern times where technology and innovation rule the day, we still build mountains of garbage just like our stone age predecessors. Are you freaking kidding me? The green revolution just simply is not happening and we have 3 billion more folks on the way by 2050. That is nearly 50% more people taking the population to a staggering 10 billion that will generate enough waste to bury lots of valuable farm land.

When the hell are we going to wake up from our cable TV soaked couches and do something about this? Large scale recycling programs are hard to implement and legislation to make recycling easier and more cost effective is not a priority. I direct your attention to this article http://www.kitco.com/reports/KitcoNews20120928DeC_interview.html

Ivy league intellectuals are studying the recycling issue so it is of concern to more than just me and my website. The problem is that it is not of concern to the general wasteful public who think that someone else is handling the green movement. Could you use an extra $1000? That is what I have made recycling this year and I put a total of about 40 hours into the process. The green movement is not going to gain traction until a groundswell at the grass roots level is achieved and I am trying to lead that movement into the public consciousness. I'll start by saying in plain English that the green movement is not being handled by someone else, so educate yourself and do something about it. If you do not wish to recycle then put your things out on the curb for someone who will.

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A Lifelong Love of Rubbish

by Bradley Voight on 09/25/12

Believe me, I think it is silly too, but I love trash. The saying one mans trash is another mans treasure is very true and has always forced me to think about what is useless and what we just think is useless. I had to pick up after large crowds of people as a youth nearly every weekend as our family business was a catering/reception hall and park. Inevitably someone would leave something valuable behind nearly every weekend be it a chair, expensive sunglasses, or even cash.

What struck me most was aluminum cans although I actually never paid attention to them till I was about 17. I thought it was silly to waste a valuable metal that was so easy to recover from the waste stream. Only 50% of cans make it back the rest just get burried. Later I found out how aluminum is made and it was a real eye opener. It takes a mineral called bauxite and a whole lot of electricity to make aluminum and the byproducts of production include huge amounts of waste liquid that have to be stored in ponds. In 2010 one of these ponds let loose in Hungary. Here is a link to the article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/world/europe/07hungary.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www

I'm sure you won't ever love trash like I do and that is ok, but I do wish that you would take a look at the things you throw out a little closer and ask yourself, where in the hell is this going? Will it break down and end up in my water? Who's backyard is this going to end up in? A greater awareness of issues like waste and industrial byproducts would go a long way toward cleaning up our world. NIMBY is what everyone says but they do not realize that a lot of backyards are already in use and theirs just might be the next one on the list of places to build a landfill, a coal ash pond, or a beautiful orange aluminum sludge pond.

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Smalltime's View of the Obesity Epidemic

by Bradley Voight on 09/20/12

I weighed 192 pounds when I graduated high school in 1989 and I weigh 194 pounds today at 42 years old. I am a self confessed sugar addict. I had powdered donuts and a chaco taco last night and tonight I had two chocolate candy bars. Earlier this month on my birthday I had 3/4 of my birthday cake in 2 days and I had 3 brownies and 1/2 a dozen cookies last Sunday. I sometimes wonder how I am not obese since I have a job that requires sitting for up to 12 hours but I know why I am not. So how have I maintained my weight?

Two words....strength exercises. Simple push ups, sit ups, and squats. I have no gym membership and I do not follow a strict regiment. I simply do as many of each exercise as I can, pushing myself somewhat but not training like an athlete, a couple of days a week. I work my muscles to soreness at least twice a week. You see muscles are what eats the food that you eat and when you have low muscle mass, all the excess you eat just piles on.

These commercials you see with pro athletes going all out on high tech treadmills while breathing super oxygenated air through respirators make people think you have to work like that to maintain a healthy weight and it is far from the truth. I am not a personal trainer or a doctor but I know what keeps me fit and I'm convinced that maintaining good muscle mass is the key to maintaining a healthy weight. I try to be fit for everyday activities, not for sports, but if I wanted to compete in a sport it wouldn't take me as long to get in condition for it. By the way, for cardio I don't run although I should, but I do take at least a 1/2 mile walk 6 days a week. I have 4 dogs to thank for that.

I will be posting a video of some basic exercises that keep your muscles taught and strong enough to take on any basic task such as lifting heavy objects around the house. These exercises will prevent common injuries that can be both costly and painful. You can do these any where, any time so there is no real excuse for not doing them. There is no magic pill to not being obese you have to do some work but you don't have to work like a Nike commercial actor.

Smalltime believes small changes can make large differences and we are here to help get the ball rolling in the right direction on issues like obesity and waste. We are not an activism site, we are here to offer ways for individuals to take the initiative to make things better for themselves and in turn the world around them.

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Fed Pulls Trigger on Massive Stimulus

by Bradley Voight on 09/13/12

Ben Benanke, the chairman of the federal reserve board of governors announced an aggressive plan to stimulate the economy today which includes buying $40 billion in mortgage backed securities per month and a pledge to keep interest rates near zero into 2015. The kinder term for this is quantitative easing; the English term is money creation out of thin air to expand the Fed's balance sheet.

Inflation is almost sure to follow, especially in the commodities sector where investors will plow cheap borrowed money into gold, silver, oil and the "soft" commodities like sugar, wheat, and corn. This could be a wild ride as we are in uncharted waters with our debt situation and this new stimulus package. The Fed itself could not tell you the end result of this latest action and I am just a shadetree economist so I can't tell you where this is going with certainty but I can say that prices at the pump may be leaving the $3 realm not to return there anytime soon.

One good thing is that base metals prices are rallying and should continue to do so over the next few months. Smalltime will be here to help you weather the storm with timely information about living in an inflationary economy.

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Smalltime Has No Political Leanings

by Bradley Voight on 09/08/12

My personal view on politics is that it serves corporate interest regardless of party. Third parties do not gain much traction in the U.S. because the two headed monster is to strong. Smalltime springs from my own belief in self sufficiency. I want to be the one I rely on, that way if I fail, I can only blame me and not some politician in a far off land.

What I am concerned with is the 47 million people that Uncle Sam is feeding. Let me say that in another way; the government is 15% of the populations' meal ticket! This is absolutely unbelievable and unsustainable. This is not going to end well no matter who gets elected. The bottom line is that if you don't want public assistance, but you are struggling to make ends meet due to underemployment or just general lack of opportunity then you need to be resourceful and Smalltime is here to help you. But if you are looking for political flame-throwing, you won't find it here.

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