The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

I'm in the same boat as Mark Twain. "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Well, not precisely the same boat since Mark Twain actually IS quite dead now; and I wasn't quite accused of being dead. However, it just so happens that someone emailed me a note about a blog that talked about something Erin Brockovich would have been interested in. "Would have been?" Excuse me? My statute of limitations has not run out yet.

I would just like the world to know that there are plenty of things that I AM STILL interested in. I haven't given up the ghost. I'm still live and kicking. In fact, I'm so interested in so many things that if I were the McCaughey septuplets, I would still barely have time for a private life.

To give you a little idea of the things that are interesting me right now...(I'm sure you're perched on the edge of your chair...)

First there IS that pollution map someone said I might be interested in.
The map is here. -- an air quality map sponsored by the Air Now website. In fact, the map is provided officially via "AIRNow, EPA, NOAA, NPS, news media, tribal, state, and local agencies (who) work together to report conditions for ozone and particle pollution." It's a good place to check to see if outdoor exercise is going to be a problem, or if planning a car trip is a bad idea on a particular day.

I've known an awful lot of people who have become sick because of their environmental situation. So it is well known that I have an active interest in a number of conditions like Aplastic Anemia and Mesothelioma . In fact I have a website and forum just for the purpose of discussing topics of interest.

Anyone who reads my blog knows I'm following the activities of Alcoa Australia who is facing a class action lawsuit over pollution. The people of Yarloop, a small community south of Perth, suffer from a range of health problems we believe are tied to emissions from an Alcoa bauxite refinery. Yes, I have been there, and lectured.

Anyone who reads my blog also knows I'm standing with the people to help clean up the heavily polluted Asopos River in central Greece, where industry has been blatantly dumping pollutants and toxic waste in the river and lately into deep wells that may be polluting the local aquifer. Yes, been there too.

I just came back from participating in the First Congress of Modernization of the Public Service of Punta Umbria, where for three days 3000 attendees participated in three conferences and six round tables, setting out an action plan to modernize administration and improve the quality of life in Spain.

Because one of my active concerns is to ensure environmental sustainability I was a keynote speaker at the Annual Global Problems, Global Solutions Conference: Saving the Earth and its People, which featured workshops on a variety of social issues.

Constantly things of interest are being thrown in my path. Some are the same things that everyone sees, like toxic toy recalls.

Sometimes I hear of positive things too. Like the Las Vegas Radio station where one of the disc jockeys was living on a platform in the parking lot on a toys for tots drive. They are accepting new and unused toys, (obviously non-toxic ones) or cash, but you can visit the website to participate. Go for it KLUC. We should all do more of the same kind of project, but why wait for the holidays?

I just wanted you all to remember that I am still here, still fiesty, still working toward a cleaner world. I hope you are too.