Energy – The Many Shades of Green

What Can WE Do? A Conversation with Dr. Kevin Danaher, Co-founder of Global Exchange and George Polisner, Founder of Civ.Works

The song of the week is California Reggae Debate-What Can I Do? By Mitch Margo

Brother Mitch wrote this in response to the endless wars, and the never changing bad news that continues to permeate society. But he saw hope, in that people have the power to make things better if they use their collective will and spirit. The chorus of the song is “You’ve got the power, I’ve seen you use it, you think you don’t have it, that’s how you lose it.“

We all need to use our power and contribute to society, and that means raising your voice, being civic minded, and yes, not putting up with the current dismantling of democracy. According to the Collins Dictionary, being civic-minded means having an active concern for the well-being and affairs of your community. It describes someone who prioritizes the common good and takes personal responsibility for improving society often demonstrated through active citizenship, volunteering, and public service. People have the power to use their public spirit to rise up when things go south, and they must twist and shout to help people in need. When we collectively consider the importance of social responsibility and participate in community engagement, we are impacting not only our local communities, but also the wider world. Democracy must focus on the WE, not just the Me, Me, Me! It is important to vote in all elections, from school boards to the presidency. Volunteering is also a very important component of social responsibility. We have the power, we just have to use it. We as humans can take action to change things and make life better. It has been quite the challenge of late, as right now, in the USA, we are seeing the downward spiraling of democracy before our eyes. I am constantly mortified by a mainstream media which is capitulating to what is being done on a daily basis to reduce our rights, freedoms and power. But there are moments when I think we can overcome the current chaos, as people are coming together in communities all over the country (No Kings rallies) on a local and national level to fight back. We have the power, and we must use it for good, as right now we have to raise our voices to counter the current attack on our civil rights. We need to move forward and educate the populace about civic responsibility and duty, as the choice is clear that the power is within us. In the infamous words of Civil Rights Leader and Congressman John Lewis, we need to make “good trouble!” If we don’t use our power, we will lose it.

Our guests on this episode of TMSOG are Dr. Kevin Danaher and George Polisner Founder of Civ.Works. Dr. Danaher is a co-founder of Global Exchange (1988), co-founder of Fair Trade USA (1997), founder and Executive Co-Producer of the Green Festivals (2001-2013), founder of the Green Guardians, and is a lifelong educator. His 1983 PhD in sociology from the University of California at Santa Cruz was based on his dissertation, “The Political Economy of U.S. Policy Toward South Africa.” He was very active in the anti-apartheid movement. Dr. Danaher has published numerous articles and is the author and/or editor of thirteen books, including: The Green Festival Reader: Fresh Ideas from Agents of Change; and Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots. He has also done many TED Talks and his most recent book, The Two Globalizations, is a free PDF download at https://www.kevindanaher.org/ He has an article, “On Becoming Solutionaries,” in the May 2020 issue of The Solutions Journal. https://thesolutionsjournal.com/becoming-solutionaries-first-global-revolution/

Go to https://civ.works/defend for more info about 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://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 big shout out to Neil for all his engineering wizardry!

Let ’em Eat Pie! With George Polisner Founder of Civ.works

SONG OF THE WEEK IS BOSS OF ME (Malcolm in the MIddle TV theme song) by They Might Be Giants

Boss of Me by They Might Be Giants (Theme Song for Malcolm in the Middle)

According to the Cambridge Dictionary the phrase “boss of me” (often used in the idiom “you’re not the boss of me”) means that someone lacks the authority to command, control, or give orders to another person.
So, a US President walks into a meeting with G7 world leaders, an hour late, and purportedly joked as he entered, when he said “I’m the boss!” Was it really a joke as the press is saying, or was it just another delusional quip? The comment drew immediate laughter from world leaders in the room, but the public and media reactions were divided along international and party lines.

Who really gets the piece of the pie?
It seems that the current administration wants to consume all the pieces of the pie or cake, leaving the crumbs to the underclass. The phrase “Let ‘em eat cake” comes to mind, and while the quote has been attributed to Marie Antoinette, she never really said those words. The phrase was attached to her during the French Revolution, as people viewed Marie Antoinette as a symbol of immense financial mismanagement—earning her the nickname Madame Deficit. Historians attributed the quote to her, as it served as powerful political propaganda, highlighting the royal family’s profound disconnect from the severe starvation and economic hardships faced by the common people. Fast forward to 2026, and the economic divide has grown even larger, as the oligarch billionaires, along with a newly minted trillionaire Musk, control more wealth than ever before. The Biff character in the Back to The Future movies has now taken center stage, and bullies are ruling the working class. The middle class piece of the American pie has become so small, that it takes up little room on the plate.
That we remain pawns in the current regime is frightful, and unless we become more involved and take action to stop the madness, I fear the worst. Perhaps there is hope on the horizon, as the ‘No King’ rallies have brought millions of the people together to use their power. But we need to do more, we need to vote in numbers that are too large to be rigged, and hopefully we can replace the current stooges with sane people who have experience in running the government. On this weeks podcast we have George Polisner, Founder of Civ.works, who is our resident political analyst, environmentalist, and our favorite curmudgeon. We delve into the architecture of pie, islands in the stream, the desecration of many landmarks in Washington DC, the need to shift to renewable energy and more. Go to https://civ.works/defend for more info.

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/ and https://civ.works/defend

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

A big shout out to Neil for all his engineering wizardry!

Science Matters with Julie McNamara, Federal Energy Policy Director with the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

This episode starts off with the TV theme song from The Big Bang Theory which is officially titled “The History of Everything”. It was written and recorded by the Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. The history of the song started when the show’s creators, Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, asked the band to write a song explaining the entire history of the universe. Lead singer Ed Robertson wrote the lyrics from scratch in just about an hour. The track is famous for its rapid-fire, high-energy delivery of scientific milestones, covering everything from the Big Bang to the dawn of civilization.

Our whole universe was in a hot, dense state

Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started, wait…

The earth began to cool, the autotrophs began to drool,

Neanderthals developed tools,

We built the wall (we built the pyramids)

Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries,

That all started with the Big Bang!

We take for granted the amazing creations brought to us by science. Throughout history, scientific discoveries have transformed societies, increased life expectancy, improved living standards, and expanded our understanding of everything from the tiniest particles to the vastness of the universe. Yet today, science often finds itself at the center of public debates about education, health, technology, and public policy.

The recent Artemis II moon mission brought science to the forefront, as people focused on the amazing crew and the tremendous effort of the astronauts, scientists, technologists and everyone who participated in the project to make it a success. Kids became infatuated with the mission and began to take a greater interest in science. So why does science matter? We cannot ignore science as to surrounds us daily in every aspect of life. Scientific literacy is essential in a democratic society and scientific expertise must not be ignored. Millions of people carry around an amazing device which fits in their pocket and connects them to a world of information. That amazing device the is the cell phone, and people take for granted the scientific research that went into producing it.

The cell phone was invented by integrating centuries of scientific discoveries in electromagnetism, computing, and battery chemistry. It turns your voice into radio waves, routing them across a grid of towers, and shrinking massive circuits to fit in your hand held device. Science produced Rechargeable Battery Chemistry to charge your cell phone. It is interesting to note that Hollywood actress and scientist Hedy Lamarr invented the foundational technology for Wi-Fi. During World War II, she co-created a “frequency-hopping” radio system with composer George Antheil. This spread-spectrum technology prevented radio signals from being jammed and directly paved the way for modern Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Scientific advancement made cell phones possible, without them we would all be tied to a wall.

Not only is the the smartphone in your pocket based on science, GPS navigation, weather forecasting, medical imaging, renewable energy technologies, and life-saving pharmaceuticals are only possible by the work of scientists and researchers working for the better good. Many of these innovations originated from government-supported research programs.

Science helps determine whether our drinking water is safe, whether medications are effective, whether bridges stand, and whether crops survive drought. Climate change must be addressed, as it affects millions of people. Extreme weather is happening at a faster rate, and communities have to prepare for more floods, hurricanes, and wildfires. The United States has been a global leader in scientific discovery. Federal investments in research helped create lifesaving medicines, advanced technologies, and countless innovations that fuel our economy. But many scientists now warn that America’s scientific enterprise is facing unprecedented political and financial pressure. Research funding has been reduced, advisory panels have been eliminated, grants have been canceled, and concerns are growing that politics is increasingly influencing scientific decision-making. Scientists, universities, and organizations across the country are raising alarms about what they see as an erosion of scientific independence.

Joining us on this episode of TMSOG is Julie McNamara, the Federal Energy Policy Director with the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Julie’s research focuses on policies and measures that facilitate a rapid transition of our nations energy system. She holds an MS in technology and policy from MIT and a BA in biology and political economy from Williams College. Julie has been quoted widely in the Associated Press, Inside Cimate News, the LA Times, NPR and more. We discuss AI Data Centers, the repeal of the Endangerment Finding, the Chevron Deference, and the current climate of science in the US. We need to support the science community in these chaotic times. Science matters!

For more info go to Union of Concerned Scientists at https://www.ucs.org/

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/ and https://civ.works/defend

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 shout out to Neil Richter for all his engineering wizardry getting TMSOG out.

TMSOG Goes Bananas! Plus Food Waste, Banana Bacon Challenge and ‘Greenhushing’ with Charlotte Ghiorse

We start off the podcast with the song Yes, We Have No Bananas, covered by Louis Prima, which was recorded and released in 1949 on Mercury Records. The Song was originally published in 1923 and was written by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn. Frank Silver would stop on his way to a gig at a fruit stand owned by a Greek gentleman, who began every sentence with ‘Yes’. The jingle of his idiom haunted Silver and his friend Cohn. The man at the fruit stand who said “Yes! We Have No Bananas” and inspired the song, never gave a reason as to why he had no bananas, as he probably did not know why bananas were in short supply. But there was in fact a worldwide decline in the banana crop caused by Panama disease, which develops from a fungus that lives in the soil. So, I can see why the fruit vendor did not have bananas to sell, and yes, Yes, We Have No Bananas had an interesting back story.

We are almost halfway through 2026 and bananas are in the news making headlines for transforming agricultural waste into eco-friendly products, including biodegradable plastic alternatives, sustainable fashion textiles, and renewable energy. Researchers and companies are converting banana peel extracts and fibrous stems (pseudostems) into durable materials, aiming to replace petro-chemical plastics and reduce agricultural waste. Food waste is a growing problem. Food systems are responsible for one-third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Within that, food loss and waste alone account for an estimated 8-10% of global emissions which is roughly equal to the carbon footprint of the entire tourism industry. Agricultural and corporate food waste has a ripple effect within the populace. According to a recent article in earth.org, food waste from restaurants and business accounts for 28% of all the food wasted globally. Businesses that implement innovative solutions to reduce food waste can make a profit no ‘greenhushing’ needed. Companies can redirect excess food to communities that need it, which will save money and reduce their methane emissions simultaneously. Individuals also have to rethink their perception of food and change their habits. Eating smaller portions, composting scraps from veggies, fruits and bones and using leftovers can also make a difference. We are a throw away society, and as food gets over produced, it often winds up in land fills polluting the land, air and water. Educating the public about small changes in their habits can lead to both businesses and consumers monitoring their waste more closely, driving a more comprehensive and impactful change. In a world where food insecurity remains a daily reality for millions, the disposal of perfectly edible food is a profound moral failure. Consumer education and awareness about the food system and food waste is encouraged and necessary to reduce waste.

On this episode of TMSOG podcast we discuss how bananas can be used to reduce food waste and pollution. We chat with our resident eco activist, artist, astrologer, comic, marvelous mom and founder of House of Chochlet, Charlotte Ghiorse about Banana Bacon, ‘greenhushing’, Astrology and God’s Love We Deliver, a NYC non-profit that provides nutritious meals to people living with severe illnesses (https://www.glwd.org/). For more info about Charlotte, House of Choclet and Sexy Astrology go to https://www.houseofchoclet.com and Sexy Astrology on Facebook. It might be time to start a Banana Bacon Challenge!

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.

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.

The Fools on “The Hill” with George Polisner, Founder of Civ.Works

Opening Song: The Fool on the Hill by The Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney but attributed to the Lennon/McCartney songwriting duo, appearing in their 1967 album, Magical Mystery Tour. The song has different interpretations, but for me, it describes a person who sees what he wants to see, and lives in a bubble, as he differentiates himself from the world at large, and stays within his own circle.

Day after Day, alone on a hill.

The man with a foolish grin is keeping perfectly still.

But nobody wants to know him.

They can see that he’s just a fool,

And he doesn’t give an answer!

But the Fool on the hill sees the sun going down,

and the eyes in his head see the world spinning round!

The fool on the hill could be a single person or perhaps there are many fools on the hill. It is interesting to note that the term “The Hill” is used as a nickname for Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. where the U.S. Congress meets. Getting Congress to do its job has not been an easy task, as the current Speaker of the House has constantly put Congress in recess and nothing of substance seems to be getting done. The institution was designed to debate, compromise, and pass laws that address the nation’s problems. But increasingly, Americans are watching something else unfold. The House of Representatives through October 2025 had only met and voted on 87 days. They broke for holidays in November and December, which led to little being accomplished. There are fools on The Hill, and the song is quite apropos, as to the current workings of our representatives in the House and Senate, as they are not doing their jobs. There is a growing frustration with what many Americans are calling a “do-nothing Congress” which is now comprised of fools, as the members seem to be detached from reality. In these difficult times it is hard not to think about the song when looking at what is happening on The Hill-Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
While the country faces real challenges, war, rising costs, climate disasters, political division, infrastructure needs, pedophiles and global instability, the people elected to govern often appear locked in a different game entirely. A game of messaging, fundraising, and partisan theater. Citizens of the U.S. do not want war. What happened to the President’s promise of no wars and affordability so that we can all live a decent life? We want action on climate resilience, action on healthcare costs, action on housing shortages, action on immigration reform and the return of decency, empathy and morality.
On this episode of TMSOG we talk with George Polisner. George is our resident political analyst, environmentalist and curmudgeon, and is the founder of Civ.works. He gives us information regarding what’s happening or not happening on The Hill. We delve into how increased renewable energy could have staved off the dependence of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. We will also talk about Cuba, the lifting of Russian sanctions and more. For additional 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.

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/

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

What Say the EPA About What Your Life is Worth, plus Green Day says “Know Your Enemy” with George Polisner Founder of Civ.works

The song Know Your Enemy by Green Day which was released in 2009, is about questioning authority, societal control, self-destructive tendencies, and encouraging listeners to identify the real sources of oppression, whether external (government, elites) or internal (personal beliefs, bad habits).
Green Day has many successful titles including American Idiot, and they will be the opening act for Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl halftime show. I cannot wait to see what Green Day has in store for us. It’s going to be an epic ride!

Do we know who the enemy is now? The state of Minnesota, which has far less immigrants than Texas and Florida now seems to be the enemy of the current administration, and Federal troops might be sent to the state to quell the current protests which are peaceful. ICE is using tactics to intimidate the populace of Minneapolis and St.Paul, two cities with peaceful residents trying not to be dragged out of their cars, homes, and taken from their schools. Many of those taken into custody are American citizens with no criminal records and who are legal citizens. We are now told by ICE via the Department of Homeland Security to “carry” our papers. Check out the history of Germany in the 1930s and you will see the similarities to today’s USA. This isn’t dysfunction, it’s political choice, and it’s a nightmare. ICE continues operating with enormous budgets, limited oversight, minimal accountability, and devastating human consequences. Where is Congress, where is the Supreme Court, where is the Press, and where are the checks and balances? Who is going to uphold the Constitution to stop the madness? On this episode of TMSOG our resident political analyst, environmentalist and curmudgeon, George Polisner, founder of Civ.works, joins us and gives us some insight into the why checks and balances are not working, as well as why the EPA is rolling back regulations and has determined that the value of a life is zero. Why has Congress not stopped the current administration from dismantling democracy? The powers that be are truly intent on destroying life as we know it, using violence while they disregard the law. Who is really is the enemy and who is really in charge? Who is pulling the puppet strings?

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.

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/

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.

The Worlds Gone Wrong with George Polisner Founder of Civ.Works

The phrase “the world’s gone wrong” is the title song from Lucinda Williams’ most recent album of the same name, and it refers to the turbulent socio-political landscape of modern America, reflecting division and hardship. The meaning is a call for resilience and strength in a world that feels chaotic and challenging. The title track which was played on this episode of TMSOG, specifically addresses the plight of the working class. There are so many issues to deal with and as the holidays near, how are we going to get through without having a nervous breakdown? Thanksgiving is a holiday built on gratitude, togetherness and reflection. It is very hard right now to focus on the goodness around us, as chaos is reigning in America from sea to shining sea. Economic pressures, political polarization and personal challenges seem to put a damper on the holiday spirit. We have a lot to think about during these trying times and we are experiencing a high toll on our mental health. We are all anxious, exhausted and on edge, as we deal with the fear of how every decision of the Executive branch, the Federal and State government, and the Supreme Court will impact our daily lives. We worry about the affordability of food, housing, and all basic needs. There are thousands of layoffs, and people are worrying if they will have job in the new year. Will there be a war with Venezuela, and how will extreme storms due to climate change affect us? How do we deal with ICE and the mistreatment of immigrants as well as American citizens? Can we trust anything the courts or government does? Maybe we can hit a pause button on the world gone wrong. Perhaps we can sit around the table on Thanksgiving and take a moment to breathe and regroup, and remember the parts of life that are still steady and meaningful. On this week’s podcast our resident political analyst, environmentalist and curmudgeon, George Polisner, founder of Civ.works, gives us some insight into what is going wrong in America. We touch on the status of COP30 Climate Conference, the affordability of basic needs, women journalists standing up and doing their job, and so much more. For additional info 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.democracydocket.com/ https://www.aclu.org/ https://www.brennancenter.org/

If you want to help protect the environment please donate to https://earthjustice.org and 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.