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Eat Till The Cows Go Away

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By JACK HARRIS Special to the Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 19, 2008

The United Nations Panel on Climate Change is calling for sacrifice on the part of the American people in order to fight global warming. Their solution is for us to eat no meat one night a week. They have estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.

A large part of the problem is that cows, for instance, emit large amounts of methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide.

Given this information, I think it would make more sense if we ate more cows. We need to help eliminate these gassy creatures that are despoiling our planet. Frankly, that's an environmental goal that I can help achieve with the help of places like Outback and Ruth's Chris and other steakhouses, and even McDonald's.

Losing Lottery

There's a classic battle that has been enjoined on the Hillsborough County Commission as they have discovered that there is money left over from road projects, and they must decide what to do with it. Most of the commissioners want to give it back to taxpayers, but some in county government, led by the chairman of the board, Ken Hagan, say it should be used for future projects.

It's a classic battle over who can best decide what to do with your money... you or the government. Given the government's proclivity for waste, fraud and otherwise wasteful spending, I'll go with the former, or you.

The Florida Lottery was established by an overwhelming vote approving a constitutional amendment in 1986 to "enhance" education. It was an overwhelming success, with revenues pouring in. The only problem was that when legislators realized what a cash cow it was, they immediately gutted the general fund of monies normally allocated to education, so the net increase in resources for our schools was zero.

That's why when there is unspent money, I'd rather they just gave it back and let me decide how to best spend it. For me, it could be used for a big investment in the education of our young people. I'll take the 20 bucks or so and buy lottery tickets.

Twisted Ground

There's a new luster for Tampa and its place in the annals of pop music. Billboard Magazine, the music world's Bible, has just named Chubby Checker's "The Twist" as the biggest hit of all time.

The twist was born on Central Avenue in Tampa in the late 1950s when its composer, Hank Ballard, was appearing here. He saw several of the youngsters in the streets doing the dance and decided to write a tune to accompany it.

Chubby Checker went on to make it a big hit, with a lot of help from Dick Clark and American Bandstand.

This amplifies the need to put up some kind of historic marker in Perry Harvey Park, telling all those who visit that the most important piece of music in the past half century originated there. That makes it kind of a musical hallowed ground.

Jocularly,

Jack

Jack Harris co-hosts AM Tampa Bay from 6 to 9 on WFLA-AM.

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