Days like Earth Day and Arbor Day are wonderful - they draw public attention to the environment and the challenges it faces. Global warming, water and air quality, and habitat all become the issues of the day.

But that's also the problem: these issues take center stage for that day, and then it's back to business as usual.

It doesn't take a ton of effort to bring some environmental focus into our daily lives - just a little consciousness. Don't drive when you can walk, turn off lights when you're not in the room, carefully choose yard and garden plantings. The list goes on and on. These are things that can be done every day, and they really add up. .(Sierra Club loves to share its tips, so does the Earth Day Network.)

Media reports say Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks will talk about sustainability and conservation during her State of the County address tonight. It appears the county administration is taking some serious steps toward greening its operations - moving toward hybrid and alternative-fuel fleet vehicles and embracing solar energy. That's good. Those are the types of lasting actions that take some serious planning to implement. And they'll have long-term benefits. And governments can certainly set a good example for citizens to follow. (The city of Rochester has taken similar actions, so has the town of Brighton.)

At the same time, her fellow Republicans in the Legislature last night shot down a set of Democratic proposals aimed at doing the same thing. It was a committee meeting, so now those proposals won't be subject to debate by the full Lej. If an idea is good - and these ideas were good - it should be considered.

Is the VA cooking the military's suicide numbers?

The most troubling news about the Iraq War sometimes has more to do with how information is filtered through government spin than the actual events on the ground. Starting with the photo ops of President Bush on the carrier essentially claiming victory to a war he didn't seem to realize was still in its infancy.

Photographs of the caskets of fallen soldiers returning home have not been permitted because they are disturbing images, a move that virtually erases reality.

And now CBS News is reporting that the suicide rate among returning Iraq War soldiers has risen to an alarming rate. And worse, the VA has been trying to keep the real numbers under wraps.

Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's head of mental health, apparently has some explaining to do.

He allegedly under-reported the number of suicides and suicide attempts in 2007. Katz presented the number - less than 800 - to CBS for a piece it ran last night.

But a memorandum he wrote that CBS obtained gave a different picture, and cautioned against letting the real data leak to the public. The real number, according to the memorandum is closer to 12,000.

The whole situation stinks to high heaven.

It hinders soldiers from getting the right kind of care that may prevent suicide.

It clearly shows the stress the military is under with multiple tours of duty.

And it muddies the water - deliberately. How can the American public cast an educated vote in the coming elections if they don't know the truth about such critically important matters?

It's alarming to see how such egregious manipulation of the truth occurs with impunity under this administration. Karl Rove and cronies thumb their noses at testimony under oath. If they are caught, a pardon is waiting in the wings.

What can the public do?

In Ancient Rome, Senators and public officials caught in such dealings were pelted with eggs and rotting vegetables.

Instead of lobbying eastern European countries to build bases for anti-missile shields on foreign soil, perhaps Bush's time would be better spent lobbying for a tomato shield at home.