Cooperative Living February 2016 - 6

Mailbag
OXENDINE COLUMN
STRUCK A CHORD
I always enjoy reading Margo
Oxendine's Rural Living column, but her
January piece, " Dreading the Coming
Absence of a Long-Time, Faithful Friend, "
spoke personally to me. She put into
words the feelings I have toward my
elderly cat who has problems similar to
Margo's Brownie.
My Mimi has been with me for about
14 years and was a rescue from the SPCA.
The task of caring for her as she has aged
is not always easy, and I dread the day I
have to say goodbye. As long as Mimi is
enjoying her life, I will continue to clean
up her messes and care for her as best I
can. Love is patient and kind. Our world
needs more of that.
Thank you, Margo, for sharing your
personal life with your readers.
- Dona Wessel, Onancock
ARTICLE APPEARS TO BE BIASED
Your January article titled " A
Geothermal Heat Pump Primer " appears
to be biased against this form of heat
pump.
In the course of the article, you
mention the fact that they are expensive
three times. Do you not want to encourage
people to install them because they use
less electricity?
One subject that would have been
helpful to discuss would have been how
much electricity they can save a
homeowner using one vs. using electric
heat and/or a " regular " heat pump.
Also, the information on installation
WhatzIt?
Make your best guess at this photo of a
familiar but unidentified object. Send it in
writing with your name, address and phone
number to WhatzIt?, c/o Cooperat ive Living,
P.O. Box 2340, Glen Allen, VA 23058-2340; or
guess online at www.co-opliving.com under
" Contests. " Dead line for entries is Feb. 18, 2016.
All correct entries will be put into a drawing and
a winner announced in the May 2016 issue. The
winner will re ceive a check for $25. n
4 | Cooperative Living | February 2016
could have been expanded.
Generally the set-up requires at
least two vertical wells? But the
horizontal version can operate
with just one ditch or
does it require two,
also?
- Erica M. Jones,
Newport
WRITE US!
NOTE
EMAIL
ADDRESS
We want to hear from you - comments, opinions,
suggestions. Your letter must be signed and legible. We
reserve the right to edit for grammar, style and
length, with a 250-word maximum for acceptance.
Write: MAILBAG, P.O. Box 2340, Glen Allen, VA
23058-2340; or email mailbag@co-opliving.com.
Please include your name and city/town of residence,
with Mailbag as the subject.
IS IT SCIENCE, OR POLITICS?
What is the easiest way to tell the
difference between politics and science?
Politics is decided by consensus and
votes, science is not subjected to a vote.
In science, the big-bang theory was
rejected by 99 percent of scientists.
Einstein's theory of relativity was rejected
by 99 percent of scientists, but neither
case, thankfully, was decided/proven
by a vote.
Einstein's theory of gravitational frame
dragging and using speed to warp time
had to be proven with satellites and atomic
clocks, not votes, consensus, or public
opinions.
Fossil fuel, a common phrase, is utterly
devoid of any scientific meaning. Go to a
museum and ask to see their fossil
collection, take out a lighter, and try to
burn one. You can't, they are rocks.
Fossilization is the process of
" mineralizing " an otherwise flammable
organic creature.
Greenhouse gas is also just such a
nonsensical pairing of words.
A gas, by definition, cannot have a
greenhouse effect.
A greenhouse traps heat by limiting the
surface area of two connected bodies,
thereby slowing the thermal transfer
between the two.
Fill a tub with cold water and make a
pot of coffee. Pour half directly into the
tub. This represents no greenhouse effect.
The hot spot dissipates almost
immediately.
Now, fill a water balloon/hot water
bottle with the rest of the coffee, seal the
end, and drop it into the tub. Test the
balloon every few minutes and note that it
cools much, much more slowly than the
portion you dumped directly in.
This is the greenhouse effect. And a
gas, like a liquid, can never create a
greenhouse effect when poured directly
into the atmosphere (tub).
People who talk consensus and
percentages of scientists are not talking
science, by definition they can only be
talking politics.
And science has a long history of being
corrupted by politics.
- Trevor Berwick, Bumpass
COOPERATIVES' AGENDA
IS TO SERVE MEMBERS
Regarding the December Mailbag letter,
" EPA Pushes Control through Regulation, "
it seems the magazine has received a lot of
feedback from those who oppose the
content of the letter. Some rebuttals
The Nov./Dec.
2015 WhatzIt?
was a puffball
mushroom that
reader Matt
Cormon captured
and reader Lakisha
 DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?
Harmon of Eastville
was our $25 winner.
Congratulations,
Lakisha!
www.co-opliving.com
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Cooperative Living February 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living February 2016
