Al's Morning Meeting

Cell Phone Changes that Start Today Could Create Tons of Trash

The Greenville News has a great sidebar on the big cell phone number portability story that begins today. The News said:

In the next year, 30 million Americans could switch their cellular telephone service, which environmentalists worry could dump potentially toxic phones and batteries into area landfills.

The long-awaited arrival of local number portability hits Monday, meaning for the first time, anyone who wants to change their service can keep their phone number — long cited by consumers as the biggest pain with switching companies. Typically, when people change providers, they upgrade their phones, which relegates old phones to the dusty back of a junk drawer, or worse, the landfill.

E-MAIL NEWSLETTER

Sign up to receive Al's Morning Meeting by e-mail: * Click here (sent Monday-Friday at 7 a.m.)

Even in a town the size of Greenville, the sheer volume of junked phones is pretty surprising to me. The paper said:

The city of Greenville has added an extra bin for cell phones at its Stone Avenue recycling center, said Alysen Woodruff, recycling coordinator. Woodruff is expecting many more than the 50 to 75 phones a month the city collects now.

"There are so many of them right now," she said. "They seem small, but the problem is the sheer tonnage that it winds up being."

Cell phone recycling has been around for several years, as the recycling community faced an avalanche of hazardous electronic waste. Verizon spokeswoman Carly Culbertson said her company has recycled 1 million phones in the past two years, but before portability kicks in Monday, the company has made sure local retailers are displaying its recycling information prominently.

The paper finishes its story with a great idea — a listing of a bunch of places its readers can go to get rid of a junked cell phone. This is a worthwhile story today, I think.

Taking the Car Away From Aging Parents

I do not wish this task on any of you, but you could sure help your readers or viewers by covering this story. I suspect a lot of your public will, over the next week, go home to be with parents for Thanksgiving. For some, they will begin to notice things that they have not noticed before about how their parents are no longer as independent as they once were. Inevitably the holiday gatherings lead to conversations about life changes for the seniors who are in our care. The Wall Street Journal Sunday section included this passage (link to Google cache):

Yet, when you realize a parent is a menace to traffic, what are your obligations? Do you request that the state revoke the license? Do you ask a family doctor to declare a parent incapacitated? Are you trampling all over Mom and Dad's personal freedoms in pursuing any of this? As such, my mom's phone call now has me wondering: How do you tell a parent that when it comes to driving, they've reached the end of the road?"

The Journal article says:

It turns out several states allow children to anonymously request that a parent's driving abilities be tested. I don't like the idea of going behind my grandmother's back, though.

Doctors are another possibility. The American Medical Association has a big push under way to get doctors to talk to elderly patients about the risks of driving at their age and on certain medications. But again, that requires surreptitiously approaching her doctor.

The other option: talking to her more forcefully, but with compassion, about my concern. That's the option I like best. It's ultimately more effective because she's likely to be more willing to accept a decision she makes than one imposed upon her.

The Web sites for AARP and the New York State Office for the Aging (aging.state.ny.us) both offer online resources for family members concerned about an aging parent's driving faculties. New York's site, in particular, offers thoughts on starting the discussion as well as understanding when it's time to intervene, because sometimes a better approach might be less drastic -- simple adjustments like wider mirrors or physical therapy to help Mom or Dad remain mobile but become better drivers.

Roadandtravel.com says:

One area that is being seriously addressed is the possibility of increased license testing for senior drivers. Technically, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration refers to drivers over the age of 70 as seniors, but the AARP is working through its 55 Alive: Mature Driving program to begin addressing the problems at a much earlier age in the hopes of reducing the magnitude of the challenge as more and more drivers fall into the 70-and-over age group.

Betrayal in the Ranks (Convergence Alert)

Spend some time looking at this remarkable project by The Denver Post and KUSA-TV. The story says:

Thousands of women have been sexually assaulted in the United States military. Thousands more have been abused by their military husbands or boyfriends. And then they are victimized again.

This time, the women are betrayed by the military itself.

They are discouraged from reporting the crimes. Pressured to go easy on their attackers. Denied protection. Frustrated by a justice system that readily shields offenders from criminal punishment.

The women suffer for it.

Some cannot talk about what happened. They were killed by men whose violence was allowed to escalate. Other victims struggle with anger over a trusted system that betrayed them.

More than 50 women told The Denver Post their stories. KUSA interviewed several of those women for TV stories that aired while the newspaper series was running.

The website contains victim profiles, a slew of key documents, and even poetry. Since the series was rolled out last weekend, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have called for a review of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Thanksgiving Stories 

Leftovers

Here are a couple of sites dedicated to the fine art of figuring out what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers:

 · The National Turkey Federation
 · Razzledazzlerecipies

Turkey for Beginners

 · Here is a fun story from The Plain Dealer — Thanksgiving planning for beginners.
 · How to keep from killing your guests this Thanksgiving.

The History of Stuffing Ourselves

I got this from Al's Morning Meeting reader Ron Wolf at Ascribe, a news release service for universities and non-profits:

Although Thanksgiving celebrations have changed through time, "the act of stuffing ourselves has a longstanding tradition," according to Colgate University's Anthony Aveni, an archaeoastronomist who specializes in the study of ancient rites and customs. Author of "The Book of the Year-A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays," Aveni traces modern day Thanksgiving to feasts thousands of years ago.

"Every agrarian culture has had a time dedicated to giving thanks, a celebration that fell near the harvest's conclusion," explains Aveni.

 · The Jews began celebrating the eight-day-long Sukkoth centuries ago.
 · The ancient Maya of Yucatan feasted on turkey three thousand years ago.
 · Ancient Greeks held a nine-day festival honoring Demeter, the fertility goddess.
 · In early Europe, during "Lammas" (loaf mass in old English), fresh breads from harvested grains were "blessed, broken, and ritually offered to the corners of the domicile for protection."
 · In 1621, the Pilgrims and Indians celebrated the first Thanksgiving holiday. Two years later, a late rain saved the Pilgrims from possible starvation. Held on Nov. 29, that feast had religious as well as social overtones.

Several U.S. presidents played a role in Thanksgiving's evolution:

 · George Washington declared Thursday, November 16, 1789, a "nationwide holiday of Thanksgiving to commemorate the Pilgrims as well as to thank God for victory in the American Revolution."
 · Thomas Jefferson didn't think the "suffering of northern puritans was worthy of official recognition by the entire nation," so it wasn't until well into the 19th century that feasting was strongly associated with Thanksgiving.
 · Lincoln advanced the holiday as a way of promoting unity in the midst of Civil War strife.
 · The final scheduling adjustment to Thanksgiving was made in response to the business world, a fine tuning from the last to the fourth Thursday in November proclaimed by President FDR. "The change came in response to complaints that late last Thursdays (like the 29th or 30th) encroached on Christmas, which could in some circumstances loom a mere three weekends ahead," Aveni recounted.

"We may have replaced the traditional morning church service with football...but we still dutifully (and usually punishingly) stuff ourselves," Aveni concludes.

For additional information on these spring holidays or any other holiday, contact Anthony Aveni.

We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.

Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, story excerpts, and other materials from a variety of websites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed, and a link will be provided, whenever possible.