Community – The Many Shades of Green

Can We De-ICE the Desert? With Bennett Burke, Yolanda Nava and George Polisner

The Protest Song is the tune which opens this episode of TMSOG. It was written and performed by Beans on Toast, which is the stage name of British folk-punk singer Jay McAllister, who frequently writes topical, protest-style folk music. The song has an anti-capitalist and pro-social meaning. The track takes direct aim at corporate greed, corrupt politicians, and globalism, advocating instead for a “people over profit, love over greed” ethos. It’s a call to action as the tune concludes that if enough ordinary people unite, they actually have the power to stop the status quo and change the world.

ICE pepper sprayed a sitting US Senator… yes, a Senator! And they still want us to believe that this is “normal” and not a government spiraling into straight up lawlessness. Do not shut up about this. Protest. Call your representatives. Push your city to stop cooperating with ICE! That was from a post on Threads on May 26th 2026 which referred to the incident involving Senator Andy Kim who was trying to keep the peace at Delaney Hall, which is an immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey where the conditions are horrific. There are reports of inadequate medical care, food shortages and mistreatment of those being held there. Governor Mike Sherrill was denied entry into the facility as protests occurred outside. NJ Senator Andy Kim got caught in the middle when ICE began to pepper spray protestors, and they also sprayed an unknown chemical into the air. ICE fired rubber bullets into the crowd, hitting protesters. We have had many dark times in American history, but what we are going through now is nothing I could have ever imagined. Our country is now under authoritarian rule, and it is quickly diving into fascism. This is all happening in plain sight, and from within our own government. The rule of law has disappeared. As the post on Threads said, this is not normal, and we cannot shut up about it. While we need to go about our daily lives, we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to what is going on in front of our faces. We need to take action, we need to resist, we need to pay attention, we need to do our civic duty and we must use our power. I literally cannot sleep at night, as the chaos and anguish is taking its toll on not only me, but millions of Americans who see the daily dismantling of democracy. There is strength in numbers, it’s time to take our country back!

Joining us on this episode of TMSOG is Bennett Burke who is a Catholic Priest working with PRICE: Pima Resists ICE -a volunteer group working to keep the abuses and lawlessness of ICE out of Marana and Tucson, AZ. He is a life long Social Justice Activist and Co-Founder of Matthew 25:34, a mutual aid group feeding, clothing, and advocating for people experiencing homelessness. Matthew 25:34 welcomes volunteers of all faiths and philosophies uniting around service to the marginalized and vulnerable with this tag line: “We’re not a church, we’re a movement for the marginalized.” Also on the program is Yolanda Nava a Mexican American pioneer renowned for her contributions to media and civil rights. She is the creator and host of “Do You See What I See” on You Tube. She was the first Latina on KNBC/TV and is an Emmy Award-winning journalist. Yolanda shattered barriers and illuminates stories and her career is a testament to her unwavering commitment to justice and empowerment. George Polisner also joins us. He is the founder of Civ.Works and is our resident political analyst, environmental guru and curmudgeon.

For more info from George Polisner go to https://civ.works/defend and find his articles on Substack -Leadership Matters. Also please go to https://www.priceaz.org/ to help keep the detention center out of Marana AZ.

To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to: https://www.aclu.org/ https://www.brennancenter.org/ https://libertyjusticecenter.org/

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org and https://action.nrdc.org/ Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

To listen to past TMSOG shows go to: https://hudsonriverradio.com/ https://malcolmpresents.com and https://themanyshadesofgreen.com/ Follow The Many Shades of Green on FB, Threads and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen and on Blue Sky @tmshadesofgreen.bsky.social. Listen to TMSOG podcasts on all major podcast apps.#RaiseYourEco&SocialConsciousness.

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

Liberty and Justice for Some: Can More Education on Civics=A more Proactive Society? Plus Saying Adieu to Stephen Colbert’s Late Show with George Polisner of civ.works

Liberty and Justice for Some (Mitch Margo, 2000)

Spin a little spin, stay the truth to win

Suddenly it’s become liberty and justice for some

Forget Election Day, it’s equal protection day

You don’t have to vote at all

The supreme Court will handle the call

Those wise old owls in their treehouse

changed the course of history

Though there’s a song for every bird

Some of them will not be heard

The Liberty Bell has lost it’s ring

my voice don’t mean a thing

It only takes a 5-4 swing

Liberty and Justice for some

How can I trust a man

who doesn’t seem understand

that there is something inherently dumb

about liberty and justice for some

The song was written by my brother Mitch in response to the Supreme Court decision In the landmark 2000 case Bush v. Gore. The U.S. Supreme Court effectively decided the presidential election. In a 5-4 decision, the Court halted Florida’s manual ballot recount, citing a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and ruling that time had run out to establish a valid recount standard. Since that time, SCOTUS has gotten even more rogue in a 5-4 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and most recently, the court drastically weakened Section 2 the Voting Rights Act limiting how courts can order maps to be drawn.

To say the least, Americans feel frustrated, disconnected, and are very cynical about politics. Civic education and discourse are needed more than ever to create a proactive democracy. In this moment of time in the US of A, when it feels like we are living in the upside down world, can we find the a glimmer of light or hope that will take us through the darkness? People are realizing that we must get back to a place where civic duty is brought to the forefront. I guess when we reach our lowest point as citizens, the only thing that will save us, from us, is us! We need to take matters into our own hands, as the three branches of government are no longer working to protect and serve We The People. The American people are feeling a deep distrust of government, as the checks and balances are clearly not working. I remember taking a civics course in high school which was required back in the day, and we were taught our nation’s history, and the importance of voting was emphasized in class. There is a widening political divide in civics curriculum, states in blue and red states are reshaping what students learn in different ways, which will have an effect on the future of democracy. In recent years, civics education has become deeply politicized. Are schools preparing students to think critically, or simply reinforcing ideology? States including Florida, Texas, and Tennessee have passed laws limiting how race, gender, religion, and systemic inequality are discussed in classrooms. Other more purple states feel that students should learn why the Constitution matters, the importance of free speech, the dangers of authoritarian government, as well as the value of capitalism and personal liberty. States like California, New York, and Illinois often encourage classroom discussions about, structural racism, voting access, Climate justice, LGBTQ+ rights, protest movements, media literacy and misinformation. Educators in these states often emphasize “action civics” — encouraging students not just to understand democracy, but to actively participate in it. In this current moment in the US we have a “corrupt” Executive branch, a “do nothing Congress” and a Supreme Court which is “politicized” to such a high level, that it no longer protects American citizens. People don’t trust the government, even the Wall Street Journal editorial board had a blunt verdict on the proposed 1.7 billion so-called “anti-weaponization fund” a/k/a “slush fund” tied to Trump, they said, in a word, that it’s “Rotten.”

We are clearly in a warped political age. So what can we do? We need to educate people and push for better and more civic education in schools. We also need to stand up, resist and take action as exhibited with the millions of people who attended the No Kings rallies.

Civic education is a foundation to democracy, and we must use it in the right way to teach curriculum that includes understanding rights and responsibilities, critical thinking, media literacy, civil discourse, community engagement, the mechanics of voting, advocacy, and policymaking. Civics education when taught with facts, not fiction, teaches students how to participate, not just observe. It is clear that we must talk to each other, and try to listen to opposing views. On this episode of TMSOG George Polisner, our resident political analyst, environmentalist and curmudgeon, and founder of Civ.works joins us to discuss civics, saying farewell to Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, corruption of the US government in plain sight, the National Debt and the continued chaos that floods our newsfeeds each day. For more info from George Polisner go to https://civ.works/defend and find his articles on Substack -Leadership Matters

To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to: https://www.aclu.org/ https://www.brennancenter.org/ https://libertyjusticecenter.org/

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org and https://action.nrdc.org/ Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

Sedges Have Edges-Green Garden Tips with Victoria Alzapiedi

This episode of TMSOG starts with the song “Green Garden” by Laura Mvula. It was inspired by her joy of having a real garden when she moved into a house in her early years. The song symbolizes escape, familial warmth, and finding sanctuary in nature during childhood summers. The lyrics evoke a need to escape to a natural space, “taking shoes off” and stepping on a “green velvet” carpet (grass), representing a return to a grounded, peaceful state. It emphasizes a sense of community and the importance of nurturing relationships, as well as the need to adapt and grow in life.

It’s Spring time, and trees are coming to life, as they sprout leaves in many shades of green, making their entrance to Mother Nature’s grand show. I am truly in awe of the beauty of the cherry blossoms, ornamental pear and apple trees, and flowers of all colors, especially the tulips, lilacs, peonies, irises, violets and more. But, as Spring arrives, so do the landscapers who mow the lawns, blow the leaves and start their war on weeds, as they wipe out dandelions which bring a sprinkle of color to the manicured lawns, and are food for pollinators. Pesticides are generously applied, and while ticks are a problem, the chemicals kill essential insects, which include key pollinators such as bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, fireflies, and wasps. There are over 4,000 species of native bees which are the primary drivers of pollination. The use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer also affects birds, wildlife, our pets and yes, humans. Yellow signs on lawns have replaced the yellow dandelions with the warning DO NOT ENTER FOR 24 HOURS, basically shouting at me to stay off my neighbor’s lawn. The most popular weed killer is Roundup, which is considered harmful primarily due to its active ingredient, glyphosate, being linked to cancer—specifically non-Hodgkin lymphoma. According to studies and findings (IARC) glyphosate is classified as a probable human carcinogen. It also poses risks to environmental health by polluting water, persisting in soil, and damaging essential soil microorganisms. Another problem chemical is found in rodenticides which kills rodents. Rodenticides contain anticoagulants, bromethalin and other chemicals which kill wildlife and pets. We need to educate people of the consequences of these pesticides, and they should be banned from sale in the US just as they are in the EU. Let’s all be proactive in creating lawns and gardens that are less toxic and more benficial to wildlife, pets and humans.

On this week’s podcast we have Victoria Alzapiedi, our resident garden, wildlife and healthy yards guru and we discuss Spring gardens, alternative lawns (sedges), reducing pesticides to create a chemical free habitats, and the problem with Roundup and rodenticides. Victoria is a co-founder of New Castle Healthy Yards, and is the chair of the Town of New Castle Conservation Board, as well as a member of the Westchester Climate Smart Communities Task Force. She is also a Native plant gardening consultant and coach providing eco-friendly planting recommendations . (mynativegardenoasis.com).

For more information go to New Castle Healthy Yards and The Nature of Westchester on Facebook. Check out the Audubon Society @ https://act.audubon.org and https://www.nwf.org/ National Wildlife Federation.

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

To listen to past TMSOG shows go to: https://hudsonriverradio.com/ https://malcolmpresents.com and https://themanyshadesofgreen.com/

Follow The Many Shades of Green on FB, Threads and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen and on Blue Sky @tmshadesofgreen.bsky.social.

Listen to TMSOG podcasts on all major podcast apps.#RaiseYourEco&SocialConsciousness.

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

There’s Too Much Chaos, So Let’s Get Smart with George Polisner

We open with the song: They Own the Media written and performed by Van Morrison, which was released May 7, 2021

In the song, Morrison critiques what he perceives as a lack of independent thought and the manipulation of information. Key lyrics from the track include:

“They tell us that ignorance is bliss. I guess for those that control the media it is”.
“They own the media, they control the stories we are told”.
“They control the narrative, they perpetuate the myth“.

The mainstream media is now Meet De-press. We are witnessing the news media in the US being turned into State News, as the oligarchs control mainstream and social media. Facebook has 3 billion users, and Zuckerberg is controlling what we see and read on the platforms within the Meta Universe—Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

The Ellisons via Skydance Media own Paramount and CBS, and just recently, shareholders of Warner Brothers approved to combine with Paramount. Skydance will own more than 50% of the media in the US if that merger goes through. Last I checked, that is a monopoly. In addition to all of this, Musk owns X, formally know as Twitter, Bezos owns The Washington Post, and of course the king of all conspiratorial media, there is Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News. We are being controlled by oligarchs who are kowtowing to a corrupt regime in charge of all three branches of government. We are watching and witnessing the Fourth Estate, the press, dissolve into news for conspiracy groups and an out of control Executive branch. Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow must be turning in their graves. The the press in 2026 is being assaulted, and independent, trustworthy outlets are being quashed by propagandistic media. Local newspapers are shutting down as costs rise, and CBS News has become State news, as it boosters the Trump administration’s messaging. FBI agents have raided the homes of Washington Post and New York Times reporters and the Pentagon Press corp has been dismissed only to sue and come back, but with reduced access. There is a war on independent media which is doing the bulk of reporting on important issues, as mainstream media, especially on the broadcast side, has fallen into a dumpster. Late Night TV has more genuine content than mainstream media, and CBS fired Stephen Colbert in a move that seems ripped out of the blacklist playbook of the McCarthy era, thus wiping out an important voice. Don Lemon was arrested and is now in court defending his right to report current events as a member of the independent press. There is some good news as various outlets such as Substack, where you can find Heather Cox Richardson and our own George Polisner is giving journalists a place to report the all consuming chaos we are all living through. Other good independent sources include ProPublica, The Guardian, The Associated Press, Reuters, PBS/NPR and more.

On this week’s TMSOG podcast George Polisner, our resident political analyst, environmentalist and curmudgeon, and founder of Civ.works joins us to discuss de-press, media consolidation, eco news, Earth Day and the current chaos of the day. In the words of Van Morrison, “they” control everything you own, they control the media! My guess is that he is referring to the oligarchs as the most likely “they“. For more info from George Polisner go to https://civ.works/defend

To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to: https://www.aclu.org/ https://www.brennancenter.org/ https://libertyjusticecenter.org/

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org and https://action.nrdc.org/ Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

Are We Living In A Cartoon?

South Park Theme Song (Opens the program)

I’m goin’ down to South Park, gonna have myself a time.

Friendly faces everywhere, humble folks without temptation.

Goin’ down to South Park, gonna leave my woes behind.

Ample parking day or night, people spouting: “Howdy, neighbor!”

Headin’ on up to South Park gonna see if I can’t unwind.

Has any series ever had a more fitting theme song than “South Park”? The “South Park Theme” by funk metal group Primus, later reworked by projects led by Les Claypool, is a twanging, frenetic jingle that quite deliberately fails to convince the viewer that its monotone lyrics about the titular small town’s idyllic nature hit their mark. It’s a perfect way to set the stage for the absurdities that invariably follow. The whole thing was carefully planned out and arranged, but as “South Park” co-creator Matt Stone said back in 2010, “the whole thing took just one incredibly lucky cold call to pull off. “

So the question is, are we living in a cartoon?

In a cartoon, characters exaggerate everything: emotions, reactions, conflicts. Sometimes I feel that we are living in an episode of South Park which just keeps rotating day in and day out, sort of like the plot in the movie Groundhog Day. If you’ve ever watched South Park, you know the formula. Something ridiculous happens in the news. The characters react in completely over-the-top ways. Everyone argues, chaos spreads, hypocrisy gets exposed, and by the end of the episode you’re laughing… but also slightly uncomfortable because the satire feels a little too real. The creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, built their reputation on one simple idea: take the most outrageous thing happening in society and push it just a little further until the absurdity becomes obvious. At its core, animation is a form of storytelling, and stories are an essential part of the human experience. From the earliest days of human history, people have used stories to make sense of the world around them, pass on knowledge and wisdom, and connect with others.

Animation takes this storytelling to a new level, using visuals and sound to create a rich and immersive experience that can transport us to new places and introduce us to new characters.

In a cartoon, a character falls off a cliff and pops back up unharmed, in real life, when systems break, people get hurt. In the current moment in the United States, sometimes reality seems to be moving faster than the satire. It feels like we are living in an alternate universe and we are being governed by what resembles a reality show. Even if politics feels like a cartoon, the consequences are very real. Policies affect healthcare, schools, immigration, climate policy, and civil rights. Trust in elections are declining, environmental protections are being dismantled and economic inequality is widening. We are now at war with Iran, and we have not received a credible explanation as to why. Every day there is chaos and people are suffering and are stressed. Prices for oil, gas, food, rent and more are rising daily, and we the people are not being heard. When will the madness end? It’s no wonder that Americans are moving to Europe and other places globally, but we need to stay and we must continue to fight, protest, and bring our collective will together to fix this mess. Actions speak louder than words, and we need to take action, so in the words of Bob Marley, “Get up stand up, stand Up For Your Rights!“

On this episode of TMSOG podcast, Charlotte Ghiorse joins me as we delve into the question: are we living in a cartoon? Charlotte is our resident eco activist, artist, astrologer, comic, marvelous mom and founder of House of Choclet. We talk about the environmentally conscious ten your old fashion designer Max Alexander, and what he is doing to reduce fashion waste. We also touch on politics, astrology, eco and social issues and more. For more info about Charlotte, House of Choclet and Sexy Astrology go to https://www.houseofchoclet.com

For more information on civic action go to https://civ.works/ To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to https://www.aclu.org/ https://www.brennancenter.org/

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

Feng Shui in the Fire Horse Year with Anjie Cho

I’m just here to mess with your feng shui

Rearrange the room in a new way

Get you back to feelin’ like yourself

Again, again, again

We start off the podcast with Philadelphia artist John Faye’s song Feng Shui, which uses the ancient Chinese philosophy of space and energy as metaphor of rearranging home energy to find emotional balance. The track is a standout single from his 2024 album, The Long Game, and is often celebrated as an anthem for resilience and personal renewal.

On this episode of The Many Shades of Green, we explore something ancient that feels surprisingly urgent-how feng shui connects to sustainability and environmental responsibility, as well as personal balance. Feng Shui is rooted in Taoism and Chinese philosophy, which teaches us that humans are inseparable from the natural world. The goal is balance between light and dark, activity and rest, people and planet. That’s also the foundation of sustainability. Imagine if environmental responsibility began with the energy in our bedrooms, kitchens, and gardens. Imagine if climate action wasn’t just about policy, but about how we arrange our living rooms. Maybe sustainability isn’t only about sacrifice, but about aligning your space with nature’s rhythms. We need to be intentional about what we bring into our homes. In feng shui, clutter blocks energy, as it creates stagnation. In environmental terms, clutter often represents overconsumption as we tend to buy fast furniture and disposable decor. Sustainability asks us to buy less, choose well, and keep things longer. Minimalism, when done thoughtfully, aligns with feng shui’s emphasis on intentional placement and meaningful objects. Instead of filling space, we curate it. It’s important to look at the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal and water) through a sustainability lens, wind, energy, water and flow. Our homes can be sanctuaries, not just for us, but for the planet. Decluttering allows energy to flow and feng shui encourages natural materials, indoor plants, and connection to sunlight. It is important to align your space with nature’s rhythms and being intentional about what you bring into your home and your office. Organizations like the U.S. Green Building Council promotes LEED-certified buildings that optimize sunlight, airflow, and water efficiency — principles that mirror feng shui’s ancient guidelines. Feng Shui connects us to being more sustainable, as it helps us design spaces that heal us and the planet.

Our guest on this episode of TMSOG is Anjie Cho, who helps us understand how feng shui can give us balance, and how it helps us consume with intention. We touch on the importance of the Five Elements, as well as the current Lunar Year of the Fire Horse. Anjie is a feng shui guru, and is a New York-based architect, author, certified feng shui consultant, and teacher of mindful, holistic design. As the owner of Anjie Cho Architect PLLC and co-founder of the Mindful Design Feng Shui School, she focuses on creating nourishing environments through feng shui, ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement), and sustainable design. Anjie hosts the Holistic Spaces podcast, runs a blog at HolisticSpaces.com, and has written books including Holistic Spaces and Mindful Homes.

We are living in a world that needs balance and needs us to take action to reduce chaos and create peace through understanding. To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to https://www.aclu.org/ https://www.brennancenter.org/ https://libertyjusticecenter.org/

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org and https://action.nrdc.org/ Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

Keep Hope Alive, We Are NOT Afraid with George Polisner, Founder of Civ.works

This week’s TMSOG podcast opens with a beautiful rendition of We Shall Overcome performed by the Morehouse College Glee Club

We Shall Overcome and other protest songs provided the soundtrack to the Civil Rights Movement. The period saw the U.S. confront one of the most complex and controversial issues in its history-race relations. The origins of the song are unclear, as it was thought to have descended from “I’ll Overcome Some Day,” a hymn by Charles Albert Tindley, while the modern version of the song was first said to have been sung by tobacco workers led by Lucille Simmons during the 1945-1946 Charleston Cigar Factory Strike in Charleston, South Carolina. The most famous version is the Pete Seeger rendition. In August 1963, 22-year old folksinger Joan Baez, led thousands of people in singing “We Shall Overcome” at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, where the famous “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Reverend Jesse Jackson was part of the inner circle of Dr. King and was in attendance. Reverend Jackson recently passed away at the age of 84, and he always stood up for social justice and was a powerful voice for civil rights, voting rights, labor protections, anti-poverty initiatives, and peace. His speeches, organizing strategies, and coalition-building fundamentally shaped modern progressive politics.

Reverend Jackson said: “Hold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but morning comes. Keep hope alive.”

I grew up in the 1960s and 70s and lived through and felt the pain of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, the Civil Rights riots and uprisings between 1964 and 1969 in New York, Newark, LA, Detroit, Chicago and other cities across the US. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated two months apart in 1968. Protestors filled the streets in opposition to the Vietnam War. Police brutality, systematic racism and inequality impacted American life, and citizens were on edge, as chaos reigned throughout the nation. While there were peaceful demonstrations, there was also intense civil unrest. During the “Long, Hot Summer of 1967,” more than 150 race riots erupted in cities across the country — fueled by deep frustration over police brutality, segregation, poverty, and systemic inequality. Flash forward to this current moment in history and we are again in perilous times, as democracy is being dismantled from within. In early 2026, Minnesota became a focal point for protests tied to federal immigration enforcement actions undertaken by Operation Metro Surge, where a significant number of federal agents by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been deployed. Outrage grew especially after fatal shootings and the use of force on immigrants and US citizens. These actions ignited statewide demonstrations, general strikes, and large public mobilizations calling for ICE to leave Minnesota and for accountability. In Minneapolis, tens of thousands of people participated in protests and a coordinated “shutdown” to oppose aggressive immigration raids and demand policy changes. People have the power and are standing up and are becoming leaders, as actual leaders seem to be MIA. Past leaders like the Reverend Jesse Jackson, as well as John Lewis, who spoke of the need to cause good trouble, have left a void which has not been filled. There is a leadership vacuum, and as our young nation enters its 250th year, we are underestimating the danger of the current administration’s autocratic behavior. What can we do to get the nation back on course? Will we overcome some day?

George Polisner joins us on this episode of TMSOG podcast. George is our resident political analyst, environmentalist and curmudgeon, and is the founder of Civ.works. He gives us information regarding the EPA eliminating core climate protection, Reverend Jesse Jackson’s passing, CBS and the FCC pressuring Stephen Colbert regarding the Equal Time Rule, plus the death of The Washington Post, the Orwellian “Board of Peace” and more. For more information go to https://civ.works/defend

To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to https://www.aclu.org/ https://www.brennancenter.org/ https://libertyjusticecenter.org/

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org and https://action.nrdc.org/ Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

Longtermism, Monks Walk for Peace, plus Astrology with Charlotte Ghiorse, Founder of House of Choclet

We start off The Many Shades of Green podcast with IMAGINE by John Lennon, which was written in 1971 as a utopian anthem calling for world peace. It asks listeners to envision a society free from the divisions of nationalism and material possessions. Co-written with Yoko Ono, the song promotes unity, secular humanism, and living in the moment. It acts as a hopeful, anti-establishment, and anti-war plea for a brotherhood of man.

The Buddhist Monks are living the themes of Imagine, as their walk for peace finally reached its destination after walking 2300 miles from Texas to Washington DC. Many of the people lining the various routes had been following the monks for months on social media, hooked by their seemingly simple message about blocking out the noise of a messy world and finding tranquillity. People from all races, colors, creeds, diverse religions and even those in the law enforcement who were keeping them secure felt a calling for peace and mindfulness. The Monks were helping us get through these most difficult times, times that I never imagined I would see in my lifetime. We live in an age of urgency, chaos, breaking news, breaking systems and breaking nerves. We have to believe in a better future even though we cannot predict or know what that future will bring. Which is why we need both longtermism and optimism. We can question what is happening now, but what will matter decades and centuries from now? Longtermism asks us to value the long-term future, not just the next election or quarterly profit, but the generations that will live 50, 100, even 500 years from now. Philosophers associated with this idea argue that future people will have real moral worth, be more empathetic, and live a happier more content life. The choices we make now could have enormous ethical weight. There are real indications that longterm thinking in environmental policy is urgently needed.

The 2025 policies of the current the EPA rolled back many environmental regulations, exempting hundreds of plants from pollution limits — a decision with immediate effects and long-term consequences for air quality and public health. Just this week on February 12, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration officially announced the revocation of the 2009 “endangerment finding,” a landmark decision that declared greenhouse gases a threat to human health and welfare. This action, described by Trump as “the single largest deregulatory action in American history,” removes the legal foundation for most federal regulations targeting greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, power plants, and oil and gas facilities. The political decisions show how short-term interests can collide with long-term climate and health outcomes, and why we must work on future-focused policy matters more than ever. In terms of AI, experts have estimated substantial risks around misaligned AI, including the possibility of systems that could profoundly disrupt or threaten human autonomy if not governed carefully. We need to push for policies that ensure AI development benefits humanity, and that is does not undermine it. We need to move forward, be active, keep optimism in our sight and work to make sure that we will be good ancestors to the Seventh Generation to come. So on this episode of TMSOG podcast we discuss longtermism, the increasing popularity of second hand and reusable clothes, furniture, tech items and more. We also touch Astrology, and other eco and social issues with our resident eco activist, artist, astrologer, comic, marvelous mom and founder of House of Choclet, Charlotte Ghiorse. https://www.houseofchoclet.com/

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

The Winter Irruption of the Red-breasted Nuthatch and Helping Wildlife Survive in the Cold with Environmental Guru Victoria Alzapiedi

We start the podcast with the song “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” by Frank Zappa, which is the opening track of a surreal, satirical suite about an Eskimo named Nanook dreaming of a journey where his mother warns him to avoid yellow, husky-contaminated snow. The track is from his fifth solo album Apostrophe (‘) released in (1974), and was inspired by a conversation about Eskimo language. The song serves as a whimsical, cautionary tale against eating polluted snow.

Winter is now upon on in full force. We recently had a historic snow storm in the northeast and other parts of the country. We have to think about what a difficult time it is for the birds, insects, and small animals around us. Winter is a season of survival. So what do we need to do to prepare our yards and landscapes to become true winter habitats? Life-saving ecosystem are crucial in making survival of wildlife possible and the way we landscape our yards plays a big role in that process. For decades, we’ve been taught that a “good yard” is neat, tidy, trimmed, and clean. But nature doesn’t work that way. In fact, many of the things we are encouraged to remove in fall — leaves, seed heads, fallen branches, dead stems — are exactly what wildlife depends on to survive winter.

When we build landscapes that support life, even in the coldest months, we are choosing connection over control, care over convenience and stewardship over aesthetics, which is crucial in the colder seasons. Good gardening is key to survival of wildlife. We must assist Mother Nature in helping creatures live through the harder winter months. Winters today are more unpredictable than they used to be as freeze-thaw cycles, sudden deep freezes, and erratic storms are becoming more common with climate change, which makes resilient landscaping more important than ever. Diverse plantings, native species, layered habitats — trees, shrubs, perennials, ground cover — all work together to create stability.
We are joined on this episode by Victoria Alzapiedi, our resident garden, wildlife and healthy yards guru who gives us great info about putting a winter plan in place to support habitat in freezing weather, snow and ice. We talk about birds and small mammals, especially the Red-breasted Nuthatch. Victoria is a co-founder of New Castle Healthy Yards, and is the chair of the Town of New Castle Conservation Board, as well as a member of the Westchester Climate Smart Communities Task Force. She is also a member of Friends of Buttonhook, which is working to save a 20.3 acre forrest in the Town of New Castle. In addition, she is the co-founder of the New Castle Pollinator Pathways Coalition, and started the Facebook group “The Nature of Westchester” an active community of nature lovers which now has more than 5300 members. So again, in the words of Frank Zappa, don’t eat the yellow snow. Only your doggies know what’s in there. For more information go to New Castle Healthy Yards and The Nature of Westchester on Facebook. Check out the Audubon Society @ https://act.audubon.org and https://www.nwf.org/ National Wildlife Federation.

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

To listen to past TMSOG shows go to: https://hudsonriverradio.com/ https://malcolmpresents.com and https://themanyshadesofgreen.com/

Follow The Many Shades of Green on FB, Threads and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen and on Blue Sky @tmshadesofgreen.bsky.social. Listen to TMSOG podcasts on all major podcast apps.#RaiseYourEco&SocialConsciousness.

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

Hail Sweden’s Second Hand Mall, plus good environmental news about the Amazon Rainforest, and some Astrology with Charlotte Ghiorse, Founder of House of Choclet

I’m wearing second-hand hats
Second-hand clothes
That’s why the call me Second Hand Rose
Even our piano in the parlor
Father bought for ten cents on the dollar
Second-hand pearls
I’m wearing second-hand curls
I never get a single thing that’s new

The aforementioned lyrics are from the song Second Hand Rose as performed by Barbara Streisand. The song is apropos to the topic we discuss in this week’s TMSOG podcast, which is about the need to reduce waste by recycling, reusing clothes and other items.
I used to shop with my mom, QOFE Ruthie at second hand and antique stores in Brooklyn and NYC, especially Greenwich Village. I loved wandering around checking out cool hats, clothes, costume jewelry, dishes from England and sometimes vinyl records, 33s, 45s, and 78s mostly from the 40s,50s and early 60’s. People would sometimes look down upon those of us who shopped at stores with gently used items, but secondhand stores are no longer a stigma. We can make smarter choices, take action on the climate and show creative expression. People are selling and buying secondhand for so many reasons. Many folks want to save money, reduce waste, avoid fast fashion, find unique, one-of-a-kind pieces and make extra income from selling items they no longer use. Resale apps like Depop, Vinted, ThredUp, Poshmark, and eBay have made it easy. But Sweden took the idea even further — and turned secondhand into an actual mall experience. In Eskilstuna, Sweden, there’s something called ReTuna Återbruksgalleria, often known as the world’s first secondhand mall. It’s a full shopping mall where everything sold is reused, repaired, upcycled, or secondhand. We are a throw away society, so maybe it’s time to consider selling old clothes, and swapping them for other items, donating them, and to reimagine what you can do with older items to reduce waste. It is highly possible that somewhere out there, someone else might need exactly what you no longer use. So this week we discuss the second hand mall in Sweden, a Swedish billionaire who is helping to save the Amazon Rainforest, Octlantis where Octopuses thrive, plus Astrology, and other eco and social issues with our resident eco activist, artist, astrologer, comic, marvelous mom and founder of House of Choclet, Charlotte Ghiorse- https://www.houseofchoclet.com/

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

Courage and High Hopes with Yolanda Nava, Tina Flores and George Polisner

This week’s podcast started with the song “High Hopes” sung by Frank Sinatra, which is an anthem about optimism, perseverance, and overcoming impossible odds by believing in yourself. The song ends with the phrase “Oops, there goes another problem, ker-plop.” It became a signature tune for its uplifting message, and was even adopted by John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign. Some of the lyrics are about overcoming obstacles which represent challenges that seem insurmountable but are overcome with “high hopes”. The tune encourages listeners to not give up when things seem impossible and for people to have a positive “can-do” attitude.

I started the New Year with high hopes, only to have those hopes dashed by the current regime starting a war with Venezuela, thus continuing the chaos of 2025. Hope seems elusive now, but it is crucial that we continue to fight and resist. I don’t have high apple pie in the sky hopes, as the song lyric says, but again, we cannot give up, as there are more of us. So where can we find hope? Is it something that is achievable in these difficult times? There are good things happening, but it is mostly under the radar, as mainstream media has been reduced to regurgitating the lies and misinformation being planted in the press daily. On the environmental front, 2025 marked the first year in which renewable energy generated more electricity than coal. Regarding social justice issues, people are mobilizing and taking to the streets to protest the demise of democracy and to protect their civil rights.

People are mobilizing by staying informed, by showing up to local meetings, school boards and town halls. We must support independent journalists, organizers, and watchdog groups and call our representatives—and not just during election season. Our right to protest must be protected. Democracy must remain participatory—or it disappears. We must unite and use our power as citizens. So it’s good to see that millions of people are taking to the streets to protest war, ICE and the rise of fascism. We must continue to raise our voices, protect one another and fight for truth, justice and our fundamental rights under the Constitution. We need to continue to find space for hope, as we cannot let fear overtake us. Yolanda Nava, Tina Flores and George Polisner give us great information, stories, life experience and wisdom on social justice, environmental issues and more.

For more information go to https://civ.works/ To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to https://www.aclu.org/ https://www.brennancenter.org/

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

To listen to past TMSOG shows go to: https://hudsonriverradio.com/ and https://malcolmpresents.com Follow The Many Shades of Green on FB, Threads and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen and on Blue Sky @tmshadesofgreen.bsky.social. Listen to TMSOG podcasts on all major podcast apps.#RaiseYourEco&SocialConsciousness.

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.

Stand By Me, Stand by Us, plus The Hoax Economy and Who’s Gonna Stop Me (Him?) with George Polisner, Founder of Civ.Works

The song Stand By Me was originally performed in 1961 by singer-songwriter Ben E. King and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who together used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from, and was inspired by, a spiritual written by Sam Cooke and J. W. Alexander called “Stand by Me Father”, recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing lead.

“Stand by Me” was featured on the soundtrack of the 1986 film Stand by Me, which was directed by the late Rob Reiner. The corresponding music video, featured Ben E King along with actors River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton, was used to promote the film. The lyrics are apropos to where we are today, a world that is beautiful, yet broken. I refer to the specific lyric: “if the sky that we look upon, should tumble and fall or the mountains should crumble to the sea, I won’t cry I won’t cry, no I won’t shed a tear, just as long as you stand, stand by me.” We all feel like crying, as the world as we know it is in free fall, and we are all shedding tears of sadness and outrage. I have not slept well in days, as the news cycle is truly breaking my heart (literally), as well as the hearts of millions of people who are experiencing what seems like the demise of goodness, as the uprise of evil has taken hold. We have to follow the lead of Rob Reiner, who fought for a better world, and encouraged people to take action. He said in October 2025 about the US that “We have a year before this country becomes a full-on autocracy and democracy completely leaves us.” Reiner continued to say that “We have to make the public absolutely aware that their democracy is being taken from them, and we have to do everything we can to make people understand that … if they lose that democracy, all of these [First Amendment rights] will be taken away from them.” We must stand by Rob Reiner’s words, and we must stand by each other and take our country and the world back. Our guest this week on TMSOG is our resident political analyst, environmentalist and curmudgeon, George Polisner, founder of Civ.works. George gives us some insight into climate news about AI data centers and Montana Youth lawsuit, plus the affordability “hoax”, immigration, the GOPs lack of a spine and more. For more information go to https://civ.works/

To help defend democracy please donate if you can to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to https://www.aclu.org/ https://www.brennancenter.org/

https://www.democracydocket.com/

To help protect the environment visit and please donate to https://earthjustice.org Help save a forest by going to https://www.preservebuttonhook.org/

A Special shout out to Neil Richter for all of his help and engineering wizardry in getting TMSOG up and running each week.