environmental policies – The Many Shades of Green

Heat Domes in Virgo, Smoke Gets in Our Eyes, Let Us Not Eat Lettuce, July Astrology and more with Charlotte Ghiorse, Founder of House of ChoCLeT

We start off the episode with the tune Heat Wave which is a 1933 jazz standard written by Irving Berlin. The song uses scorching summer weather as a playful metaphor for intense, passionate desire. I am not sure if today’s heat domes bring out the same passion, and while heat waves are not new to summer months, heat has become more extreme, and so perhaps a new song needs to be written titled What’s It All About-Heat Domes. Because of its show-stopping, rhythmic nature, Heat Wave has been covered by numerous icons, including Ethel Waters (who debuted it), Ella Fitzgerald, and Marilyn Monroe in the film There’s No Business Like Show Business.

This summer, millions of people across the United States, Europe and globally are experiencing something that has become increasingly familiar: relentless, dangerous heat. Cities are breaking temperature records. Emergency rooms are seeing increases in heat-related illnesses. Energy systems are being pushed to their limits, as people turn to air conditioning for relief. Are these extreme heat events the new normal, and how much are they connected to climate change? Climate change exacerbates droughts and warms the atmosphere, both of which intensify heat waves and heat domes. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) warns that while high-pressure heat domes are a natural atmospheric phenomena, fossil fuel-driven climate change is supercharging them. Warmer oceans and atmospheres trap heat more effectively, making these systems more stagnant, prolonged, and intense, directly amplifying extreme summer temperatures across North America. Warming temperatures can also lead to forest fires, which leads to dangerous smoke in the air. Climate Scientists note that a fundamentally warmed planet means heat domes trap much more heat and humidity, which would be virtually impossible without decades of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

Heat domes are dangerous for humans and animals. Not only can they create record-high temperatures during the day, but they also warm temperatures during the night. Children, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions are most affected by the heat. Heat domes are not just a weather story. They are a reminder that the climate we live in today is changing, and extreme heat is becoming one of the defining challenges of our era. The science is clear: a warmer atmosphere increases the likelihood of more intense and prolonged heat events. The choices we make in our communities, our energy systems, and our policies will influence how much hotter the planet becomes and how prepared we are to face it.

So on this episode of TMSOG we talk about heat domes and how a warming climate is making extreme heat events more intense, longer-lasting, and more dangerous. We discuss the cyclospora parasite which is affecting what fruits and vegetables we can eat, plus a story about artist Victor “Marka27″ Quiñonez, who was banned from exhibiting his work called I.C.E. Scream,” at University of North Texas. In addition, we cover positive eco news about a young lady, Rebecca Young in Glasgow, Scotland, who invented a solar blanket that fits in a backpack to help keep homeless people warm in colder weather. We hit on these topics as well as July astrology and more with our resident artist, activist, astrologist, comedian, writer, and marvelous mom, Charlotte Ghiorse, Founder of House of ChoCLeT. For more info go to https://www.houseofchoclet.com/ and check out Charlotte’s new show “Bad Music for Bad People” at the Nocturnal Cafe in Ithaca, NY July 19, 20, 23, 26,27 and August 1st.

Go to https://civ.works/defend for more info about civic action, voting and more.

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!

Caring for the Earth: Stories from Faith Communities with Reverend Carol Devine, Director of Blessed Tomorrow and Dayna Reggero, Founder of Climate Listening Project

This episode of TMSOG starts with the song What A Wonderful World sung by Louis Armstrong. The song was written in the turbulent late 1960s. The lyrics counter societal strife by celebrating the beauty of nature and human connection, encouraging listeners to pause, appreciate their surroundings, and find hope amidst adversity.

It is a wonderful world, yet many people don’t spend time to stop and smell the roses, or walk around in nature. Beauty surrounds us, but we all get stuck in our life bubbles and we don’t pay attention to what is most important. We are going through a difficult moment in time, but people are coming together to try and make things better. We have to protect the planet so that future generations will have clean air, land and water, and the message about climate needs to be prioritized. Climate change is a global environmental challenge that has profound ramifications for both human and non-human life across the planet. It is a crisis that raises deep questions of what constitutes responsible stewardship of the earth, and justice for all of its inhabitants. On this episode we discuss an important but sometimes overlooked part of the climate conversation—the role of faith communities. We delve into how congregations are responding to climate change, what motivates people of faith to become environmental leaders, and how communities can work together despite political differences. For millions of Americans, faith provides not only spiritual guidance, but also a framework for caring for one another and for the world we share. Many religious traditions teach stewardship, compassion, and responsibility for future generations—values that align naturally with environmental protection. Faith communities across the country are on the frontlines of climate action, leading with hope, compassion, and courage.

Our guests this TMSOG podcast are Dayna Reggero and Reverend Carol Devine. Reverend Devine is the Director of Blessed Tomorrow, a coalition of faith leaders working through EcoAmerica to inspire climate action grounded in shared values of hope and compassion. She is an ordained pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and founded the creation care program, Green Chalice, for the denomination. Reverend Devine has pastored congregations in Kentucky, has been part of Disciples’ regional staff, and was Director of Admissions at Lexington Theological Seminary, where she earned her MDiv. Reverend Devin works with faith leaders and congregations across the country to help them engage thoughtfully and compassionately on climate change. Dayna Reggero, is a friend of the podcast and is the founder of the Climate Listening Project. Her documentaries focus on community conversations and personal storytelling. Dayna has helped people across the country share their experiences with climate change to help foster understanding rather than division.

For more information go to https://blessedtomorrow.org/get-the-film-series/ and blessedtomorrow.org and https://climatelisteningproject.org/

Go to https://civ.works/defend for more info about civic action, voting and more.

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!

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 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!

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!

The Bees, The Octopus and The Plastic Eating Mushrooms with Charlotte Ghiorse Founder of House of ChoCLet

The Opening Song for this episode is Flight of the Bumble Bee.

“Flight of the Bumblebee” is an orchestral interlude composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1899 for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan. Its musical meaning is to depict the erratic, frantic flight of a bumblebee, serving as magical background music for a prince transformed into an insect. While intended to be a minor background transition in the opera, the song’s vivid, frantic imagery caused it to take on a life of its own.

It became famously used as the theme for the 1930s radio and television show The Green Hornet. It has many musical challenges because of its immense speed and technical difficulty, it is frequently arranged for solo instruments and serves as a virtuosic showpiece for musicians wanting to display their dexterity and skill.

Bees are among the most important pollinators on Earth!

While honeybees often get the spotlight, thousands of native bee species quietly perform essential pollination services every day. One Spring day in 2022, a Cornell University entomology technician Rachel Fordyce, who regularly walked through East Lawn Cemetery in Ithaca New York, noticed bees everywhere and became quite curious. She collected several specimens and brought them back to the lab for identification. Hidden underground, beneath the gravestones and grassy pathways of the cemetery, scientists have uncovered an estimated 5.5 million bees—one of the largest known aggregations of ground-nesting bees ever documented anywhere in the world. What seemed like a routine observation soon turned into a major scientific discovery. It made national headlines, and many people imagined a gigantic underground hive, but that is not what is actually occurring. (Cornell Chronicle)

The bees at the cemetery are solitary mining bees. Each female builds her own nest in the soil. Unlike honeybees, they do not live in large colonies with queens and workers. Instead, millions of individual bees have chosen the same favorable habitat for nesting. This discovery reminds us that nature often thrives in the places we least expect it to. What is underground is often not noticed by us humans. There are massive mycelium (fungi) networks underground in forests which breakdown environmental toxins and can absorb radioactive waste. Nature is remarkable, and scientific discoveries teach us about conservation, biodiversity, and the hidden wonders beneath our feet.

On this episode of TMSOG podcast we delve into the bees of Ithaca, mushrooms that eat plastic, plus we will talk about the amazing Octopus, as well as politics, 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. Go to https://www.houseofchoclet.com/ for more information.

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.

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/

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.

Will AI Inherit the Earth? With Charlotte Ghiorse

The opening song is this weeks podcast is “The Geeks Will Inherit the Earth” by I Fight Dragons. The song is an anthem celebrating the triumph of outcasts, intelligence, and passion over popularity. It asserts that those who are ignored for being “different” are destined to inherit the world and succeed later in life. The common phrase “the geeks shall inherit the earth,” reflects a cultural shift where intellectual and technological skills are valued over social conformity. The song highlights that the social hierarchies of early years are temporary, and the people ridiculed for being “nerds” or “geeks” often become the leaders and innovators of the real world. The question now is, will AI created by geeks inherit the earth?

One can bet that Artificial Intelligence was developed by the nerds and geeks of the world, but how did it get started? People like Alan Turing, who first asked whether machines could think, laid the philosophical groundwork. Later, researchers like Geoffrey Hinton, Yann LeCun, and Yoshua Bengio pushed forward neural networks—the technology behind modern AI. These weren’t celebrities. They were researchers, often working in labs, driven by curiosity more than profit. Yes, these brilliant scientist are considered the geeks who started the research into Artificial intelligence. AI seems to be everywhere and it is one of the most transformative forces shaping our world today. It is in our phones, our computers, our schools, our workplaces, social media and is part of our daily lives. So what does it really mean for society? Artificial intelligence/AI refers to machines designed to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence—things like learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and in some cases, even creativity. Recommendation algorithms decide what you watch, how your GPS apps predict traffic, and how chatbots answer questions in seconds. As computing power exploded and data became abundant, the ideas of the creators of AI, the “geeks” created something that worked very well. What started as niche research turned into the backbone of trillion-dollar industries. While many of the “geeks” of the past are no longer at the center of AI, it is now in the hands of the most powerful companies in the world, which are being led by major tech organizations, venture capital firms, and governments. There are pros and cons to AI, and one of the cons is that AI Data Centers are sucking electricity and water from the communities where these centers are located. Data centers are renowned for their intensive energy consumption and many are facing challenges sourcing reliable electricity supplies for campuses that need to be up and running 24/7. With grids already under pressure from electrification strategies, the industry must deal with many projects which include plans to build their own power generators and fund connections to the grid. Communities are opposing the building of these centers and some have been successful in stopping them. On this episode of TMSOG we talk with our resident artist, comedian, writer, astrologist and super mom Charlotte Ghiorse. We touch on Artificial Intelligence and the problem with AI Data Centers, as well as the innovative inventions which have come out of NASA and the space program (hail Apollo and Artemis ll), as well as what’s being done to clean up plastic pollution, good things about banana trunks and of course, astrology. 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.

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.

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

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.