Wind – The Many Shades of Green

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/

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.

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.

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.

Smoke jumpin’ piano thumpin’ and Rock n’ Rollin’ with Loren Korevec

When you fly cross country on a daytime flight from NY to LA and the skies are clear, you see beautiful topography with no boundaries, no divisions, no anger. One can view the Atlantic Ocean, a variety of cities, crop circles, the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, the LA sprawl and finally the Pacific Ocean. The lyrics from the song America the Beautiful say it best, “O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain. America! America! God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.” So what’s left that is good in todays America and how can we come together as a nation to highlight the good, while the domestic evildoers, and I am shouting out to President Bush 2, as he coined the phrase evildoers, seek to disrupt our way of life? I don’t have the answers, but I know that we must unite and be proactive. There are good, kind, educated citizens who work tirelessly everyday to protect, defend, create, innovate and stand up for what is right. Yes, times are tough, but as my son told me years ago, the lawyers, the innovators, and yes, the hackers, will get us through. Joining us on this episode of TMSOG is Loren Korevec, a musician, writer and a friend of my family for decades. Loren was in the U.S. Army with my brother Mitch Margo and played in a group called the Green Apple Nasties, along with Ray Templeton (Disney musician), and actor Joel Higgins (TV Show Silver Spoons). He performed, and took to the stage and the studio with my Token bros Phil and Mitch. He was in The Token spinoff group Cross Country, worked with Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert and he also worked on game show Musical Chairs. He is a talented song writer and keyboard player, piano tuner extraordinaire, and is currently a member of the group The Band Band. We talk about Loren’s time in the Army, and on the environmental side we discuss ocean wind turbine technology. We chat about his smokejumping days in the Forest Service, as well as climate change and how the outburst of fires are making our skies smoky and polluted, which is greatly affecting our air quality. In addition, we get into music and how it reflects and helps us survive these uncertain times. Loren chimes in about The Band Band and much more. You can follow The Band Band on Facebook and online at https://thethebandband.com/tour/

Please go to the following organizations to get info and if you can, donate to https://www.ucs.org/ (Union of Concerned Scientists which helps scientists continue their valuable work). If you want to help protect the environment please donate to https://earthjustice.org/ You can also donate to help lawyers defend our constitution by going to https://www.aclu.org and https://www.brennancenter.org/ The Brennan Center helps protect voting rights. Also check out civ.works/defend

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.

Naughty or Nice: UK Gives Up Coal For Christmas + Legal Personhood for Nature, Dr. Strangelove, Naughty Santa by HOP and more with George Polisner

It’s all fun and games ’til Santa checks the naughty list.”AND “Dear Santa, before I explain, how much do you know already?”- Unknown

In 2024, the line between naughty and nice has been blurred, and it has been hard to sift through the barrage of misinformation to separate the good from the bad, and the truth from the lies. There are days when we feel that we can get through things, and days when our emotions are at the bottom of the well. It’s been that type of year. So let’s look for what will raise our spirits in this holiday space. Is there anything good to give us hope? The answer is yes, even though democracy in the world is hanging by a thread, there have been some good policies and ideas put into place to revive my sense of well being.

On the environmental front, it turns out that in Ecuador, New Zealand, and Brazil; rivers, mountains, forests, waves, dolphins and whales have been given legal personhood. According to Jacqueline Gallant, who works for the Earth Rights Research and Action program at New York University School of Law, some countries are pushing the boundaries of legal imagination. Gallant stated that “Legal personhood provides the understanding that nature and living non-human beings should be understood as subjects [as opposed to objects] – with intrinsic value and interests and needs of their own.” We need to expand these actions to more countries so that nature can be truly represented. There is more positive environmental news which comes out of the UK. Coal has been polluting the atmosphere for decades and the UK has closed its last coal fired plant, which will reduce carbon emissions. The good eco-news keeps coming, as there are new ocean protections in the Azores, Amazon Deforestation reached a nine year low, and on El Hierro, the most westerly of the Canary Islands, energy generated via wind and water has enabled its 11,000 inhabitants to be completely self-sufficient in electricity for 10,000 hours since the project was established. Continuing in the victory column, the Supreme Court of the State of Montana upheld a landmark trial court decision from last August which decided in favor of 16 young people who said their health and futures were being jeopardized by climate change, which the state aggravates through its permitting of energy projects. So while gloom and doom seems pervasive in the US, as well as some democracies in the EU, Asia and other parts of the globe: innovators, scientists, engineers, lawyers, teachers and policy wonks are working to get the pendulum to swing in a more positive direction.

On this episode of TMSOG podcast, our resident environmentalist, political analyst and curmudgeon, George Polisner, founder of Civ.works, gives us some insight into environmental, economic and political issues. We talk about positive green news, nature being given legal personhood, Dr. Strangelove, externalities and the impending rise of an oligarchy in the US. For more info go to civ.works/defend. Check out The Museum of Motherhood https://mommuseum.org/ founded by Joy Rose. Take personal action and be proactive and if you can, please donate to an environmental organization which fights for the planet. Earth Justice is a wonderful organization to check out, as the Earth needs a good lawyer, go to https://earthjustice.org/

To listen to past TMSOG shows go to HudsonRiverRadio.com and Malcolmpresents.com. Follow The Many Shades of Green on Facebook, Instagram and Threads @tmshadesofgreen and on Blue Sky @tmshadesofgreen.bsky.social. Listen to TMSOG podcasts on all major podcast apps. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

TMSOG is on Feedspot’s list of the 50 Best Environmental Podcasts.

Plastic in the Clouds, Pluto in Aquarius and more with Artist, Eco-Activist and Sexy Astrologist, Charlotte Ghiorse

Plastic is everywhere. In our blood, in our food (beer, honey, salt) and more. A one liter of bottle of water contains 240,000 detectable plastic fragments. Microplastics are even in clouds! Joni Mitchell did not in a million years think that plastic would be inside clouds when she wrote the lyrics to her iconic tune “Both Sides Now” Joni wrote about the clouds and said:

But now they only block the sun

They rain and they snow on everyone

So many things I would have done

But clouds got in my way

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now

From up and down and still somehow

It’s cloud illusions I recall

I really don’t know clouds at all

Plastic in clouds is not an illusion, so maybe the lyric needs to be updated to say:

Now microplastics are in the air

within the clouds and everywhere,

now scientists are really scared

they know what must be done,

We have to work to clear the skies

and wipe the plastic from our eyes,

from tears and rain we cannot hide

plastic cannot rule the way

On this episode we focus on how plastic winds up in clouds. Researchers recently collected 28 samples of liquid from clouds at the top of Mount Tai in eastern China. They found microplastic fibers—from clothing, packaging, and tires—in their samples. Lower altitude and denser clouds contained greater amounts of microplastics. Plastic is now part of the Earth’s geology as it is in rocks, reefs, and shells, soil and more. It now has a geologic name: plastistones. We discuss how plastic is infiltrating the environment and getting into the clouds, and we delve into astrology-Pluto in Aquarius, with our resident eco-activist, artist, and sexy Astrologist, Charlotte Ghiorse. For more info about plastic/chemicals in our environment go to asc.org. Get more info about Charlotte via HouseofChoclet.com and Sexy Astrology on YouTube. Find more shows on HudsonRiverRadio.com, Malcolmpresents.com, and TMSOG – themanyshadesofgreen.com. Follow us and Like us on Facebook, Instagram and Threads @tmshadesofgreen, and listen and share TMSOG podcast on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, iHeart (Spreaker.com) and more. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

The Many Shades of Green is proud to be on Feedspot’s list of environmental podcasts to follow in 2024 (@ #8) https://podcasts.feedspot.com/environmental_podcasts/

Cornell Cooperative Regional Clean Energy Hub in the Hudson Valley

We all have to care, we all have to do our part to protect Mother Earth. With the recent IPCC report from the UN, which stated that we will pierce the 2 degree threshold for global warming within a decade, it is more important than ever that we take actions now on both local and global levels to reduce the impact of climate change and carbon emissions. Our local and state officials must lead the way to create programs that help communities, especially in underserved areas, to be proactive in reducing green house gas emissions and more. This includes making renewable energy more available and affordable, creating green jobs and educating the public on what must be done to get people involved in working to curtail the use of fossil fuels while encouraging the use of clean energy. On December 9, 2022 Governor Hochul announced $52 Million Dollars in Awards for Regional Clean Energy Hubs to Connect New York Communities with Clean Energy Resources. 12 Regional Clean Energy Hubs were created to serve as centers of outreach, awareness, and education in regions across New York State to help foster residents’ participation, especially those in underserved or otherwise disadvantaged communities, with respect to New York’s clean energy transition. The announcement supports the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act which is in place to deliver at least 35-40 percent of the benefits from clean energy investments to disadvantaged communities, and help advance an equitable clean energy transition for all New Yorkers. My guests on this episode are Frankie Lede and Amanda Catale who are working to put these important sustainability programs into effect and are both stewards of Mother Earth. Frankie and Amanda are Energy Resource Educators/Advisors with Cornell Cooperative Extension, who are working with the Energy Hub located in the Mid-Hudson Valley. For more info go to: https://midhudsonenergychoices.org/ SustainableWestchester: https://sustainablewestchester.org/energysmarthomes/Mid-Hudson Regional Energy Hub Workforce Development – New Yorkers for Clean Power: https://nyforcleanpower.org/

#1603: Beyond Global Warming

My guest this week is Victor Provenzano, eco-consultant and author, who has written articles for clean tech websites. His article for Clean Technics, entitled The Intermittence of Wind and Solar, has been well received, and has been widely circulated. In addition, Victor is currently working on a new book, Beyond Global Warming, which will emphasize that solutions to current ecological problems are being developed, and will hopefully be put into place within the next decade. You can also check out Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions For The New Energy Era, by Amory Lovins, to get more detailed data, analysis and modeling regarding the future of energy. For more info go to Rocky Mountain Institute: rmi.org

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/245328663″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

#1526: What is the Clean Air Act anyway?

Why are environmental regulations important in helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions? The Clean Air Act and the Clean Power Standard Rule have been put into place to keep the air, land and water safe, in order to reduce the negative health effects of pollutants. Join me and my special guest, Elon D. Rubin, Esq., Environmental lawyer, entrepreneur, techie, musician and most importantly my awesome son, as we talk about the environmental regulatory process, and how citizens can participate in the process. The climate is changing, and we must be proactive in being resilient and adaptive to current and future climate challenges. For more information visit Edrlaw.com and epa.gov.

#1526: What is the Clean Air Act anyway? by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud

#1509: Bedford 2020

This week’s program takes place at the Bedford 2020 Summit and Solar Action Day. We spoke to Andrew Revkin, writer of the Dot Earth Blog for the New York Times, as well as Peter Olmsted, East Coast Regional Director for Vote Solar. We also spoke to Mayor Michael Cindrich of Mt. Kisco, NY about the solar projects on his agenda. Keynote Speaker Amory Lovins, of The Rocky Mountain Institute, spoke about new energy technologies that are on the horizon for the future of electricity. It was a gathering of innovators, educators and community, all working to promote solar and other renewable energy, in an effort to help create actionable solutions to green house gas emissions. A special thank you to Heather Flournoy for her hard work and hospitality. For more information go to bedford2020.org, dotearthblogs.nytimes.com and votesolar.org

#1414: Doug Semmes, Green Mountain Energy

An educated consumer makes the best choices. I can now say I made the best choice, and I am a Green Mountain Energy customer. Doug Semmes and I discuss how important it is to make an effort to have a part of your electric consumption be provided via renewable energy. It is a positive way to reduce your carbon footprint, and be a good eco-citizen. It is easy to sign-up, and it is worth knowing that you are helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are damaging the atmosphere. Cleaner electricity is here to stay, so become part of the solution. You can get more info on Green Mountain Energy by going to www.greenmountain.com.

#1414: Doug Semmes, Green Mountain Energy

#1242: Green Mountain Energy

Doug Semmes, Director of the New York Market of Green Mountain Energy, is a green power pioneer who is moving to change the way power is distributed.Green Mountain Energy is the nation’s longest serving renewable energy retailer. Become a green energy consumer and reduce your carbon footprint. Listen in and find out how. It’s good to be green.

#1242: Green Mountain Energy