John Robbins Has A New Book Out

From the guy who brought us one of the most important books of our time, in my humble opinion, "Diet For A New America" and "The FOOD REVOLUTION", some one who i've respected since 1987, here's "The New Good Life: Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less"

John Robbins was heir to the vast Baskin Robbins ice cream fortune and walked away from it in favor of making his own way in the world. Moving to a small island home with his wife and their son, Robbins lived happily for a decade on less than $500 a year, redefined what wealth and happiness meant to him, and became a leading spokesperson for personal and planetary health. Many in the media called him the "rebel without a cone" and the "Prophet of Non-profit." Robbins' books sold millions, and he earned monetary wealth doing what he believed in.

Then on December 11, 2009, he awoke to the news that most of his hard-earned life savings had been lost to the Madoff scam.

In recent years, millions have watched their American Dreams go up in smoke. The international financial collapse, inflation, massive layoffs, and burgeoning consumer debt have left people in dire financial straits-including John Robbins. But having already gone through many of the shocks and adjustments that so many people must now navigate-and come out even more grounded-Robbins realizes that there is a potential upside to our collective financial downturn: a world in which our necessarily curtailed consumerism can lead to a healthier planet, and legions of more deeply satisfied people living on it.

Get the book here at Amazon and let me know what you think. I'm going to order mine tonight.

Dennis Hopper

B A D A S S !

Help Make a Salad Cost Less than a Big Mac

from Good Blog

Thanks to agricultural subsidies, the least healthy foods are also the cheapest to buy.

In 1933, Congress passed a cornerstone of New Deal reform, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which paid farmers to cut the production of commodities like wheat and corn in an effort to lift farms out of the depths of the Great Depression. Since then, government farm programs have evolved into a confusing labyrinth of tax reductions, price supports, and direct payments designed to help farmers deal with fluctuating weather patterns and market prices—all to ensure a stable supply of food.

Just mention subsidies and most people’s eyes glaze over. But government subsidies transfer hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to large farmers who grow just a few types of crops, creating some of the country’s least deserving welfare recipients. Subsidies set price minimums and ensure that corn, soy, wheat, and rice producers get paid regardless of how low prices for their crops are or whether they even need assistance in the first place. These subsidies support the cheap and unhealthy domestic food that shows up in the aisles of the supermarket. And they’re the reason why a salad costs more than a Big Mac.

Earlier this month, the Environmental Working Group, an environmental nonprofit, released its annual assessment of farm subsidies (which, because of changes in the law, is actually less transparent than in years past). The EWG’s president Ken Cook says, “Even after the bitterly contested new health insurance reforms eventually take effect, most crops could fairly be said to have better coverage than many people in this country.”

If the Obama Administration is serious about Let’s Move, its obesity-reduction initiative, then the country needs a better Farm Bill in 2012—one that places a priority on better health care and nutrition. Even the Wall Street Journal applauded Let's Move in its op-ed pages, saying, “The best outcome would be if ObamaCare dies and the first lady's anti-obesity campaign results in some modest success.”

The problem with the existing subsidies is that they don’t to favor the majority of fruit and vegetable growers (nor the school kids that eat their produce). These farmers will need to at least double their acreage to reach Let's Move's proposed nutrition guidelines, writes The Washington Post’s Jane Black. What if the money to pay for those new acres of fresh produce was taken from subsidies that make unhealthy foods artificially cheap?

So far, the House Agriculture Committee appears to be making modest inroads towards this goal by replacing some conventional subsidy programs with crop insurance programs, so that farmers might grow more diversified crops and be encouraged to stop overproducing. As Paula Crossfield of the blog Civil Eats writes, “If the new Farm Bill includes this change, it could spur farmers to diversify their crops, spreading out their risk, thereby creating new opportunities for local food systems.”

Still, the next Farm Bill should aim for the heart of the problem, and lawmakers need to consider substantial reform. Spend a little time on EWG's database and then weigh in on the process before June 14. There’s little doubt, judging by both the effects of subsidies and the looming federal budget deficit, that we need anything less than a complete overhaul.

SKATEBOARD KINGS 1978 - a British documentary crew comes to DogTown

"Skateboard Kings" is a news documentary that was made by a British program called "The World About Us". This episode is about the Skateboard Kings of Southern California, and in particular riders such as the World Champion Tony Alva are featured in their daily lives and exploits in and around DOGTOWN. Ray Flores, Billy Yeron, Paul Constantineau, Jerry Valdez, Shogo Kubo, Kent Senatore, Ellen O'neil, Bob Mohr, Elen Berryman, Kim Cespedes and others. Russ Howell and Stacy Peralta are featured in a bizzare freestyle and safety demonstration. La Costa segment with Henry Hester, Bob Skolberg and John Hutson. There's visits to SkateBoarder Magazine, a few empty pools, a new skatepark, typical DogTown house party, demo's, a visit to the infamous Arizona Pipes, and a skate board manufacturer. This is a "cult classic" special that is hard to find, that's why we've posted here for you all to enjoy and share, for the oldschool hard core skate fanatic.

In fact I posted this on Google Video a few years ago, happy it's still floating around. The BBC asked me for some photos at least 10 years ago, they weren't paying much so i asked them to dig up a VHS copy of this doc. for my archive, i got it. It's pretty laughable, but does have some classic footage and dialog which most of you probably won't believe actually existed. The thing is i remember well the time when they were out working on this program, in fact Billy Yeron and I went back to the backyard pool they emptied for the party session the next morning and shot some cool shots there, the best one I put in FUCK YOU TOO.

My friend, and serious collector of my work, Philippe Petit sent me a photo of the page (actually a signed page proof from the original printing) to post here, since i'm out of town and don't have access to the original. Thanks!

Who Knew? Kevin Costner's Been Working on Oil Spill Cleaning Gizmo For Years

from Good Blog

So apparently Kevin Costner (yes, that Kevin Costner) has spent millions of dollars over the last eight years developing a centrifuge-like device called Ocean Therapy that removes oil from seawater.

Placed on a barge, it sucks in large quantities of polluted water, separates out the oil and spits back 97% clean water....

His scientist brother, Dan Costner, helped develop the device, and together, the brothers formed Costner Industries Nevada Corp. to pursue various energy projects, including a non-chemical battery that could last 15 years.

The 55-year-old actor eventually sank $26 million into the Ocean Therapy oil separator project. He obtained a license for the device from the Department of Energy in 1993 and has been trying for years to promote it.

BP has agreed to start testing Costner's inventions in the Gulf. The biggest Ocean Therapy unit can clean water at a rate of 200 gallons per minute, which is faster than the oil is leaking. If it works, this will totally make up for Waterworld.

Thanks Tara!

I'm Fucking LOST

I have not watched a network series every week for as long as i can remember right now, but i DID get sucked into LOST before the second season began after someone loaned my wife (before she was my wife!) the 1st season DVD's. I thought it was great and actually looked forward to seeing it every week.

I finally got to see the Finale tonight.

All I can say now is WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?

Can some of you please chime in and give me your thoughts?

thanks!

Zero-energy buildings: We have the technology

Last week Maggie Koerth-Baker from Boing Boing spoke with Kent Peterson, past president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers. This was a lot more exciting than it may sound. ASHRAE standards on energy efficiency end up written into our building codes, which means the organization plays a big role in influencing the shape of energy policy in this country. She talked to Peterson to find out whether zero net energy buildings—buildings that produce as much (or more) energy as they use—were really a practical goal. His answer might surprise you.

"We have studies that show [zero-energy buildings] are practical for approximately 62% of buildings in the U.S., based on technologies we have today," he said. "That's mostly one and two-story buildings and still leaves out a lot that can't reach it, but those buildings can be low energy.

In fact, Peterson said that currently available energy efficiency technologies alone (not even looking at generating power from wind or solar sources) could reduce the amount of energy used by the total U.S. building stock by 50%.

The catch: Hitting that 50% energy reduction goal—let alone getting to zero-energy buildings—means more than buying a better boiler. The environmental systems in buildings—the lighting, heating, cooling, etc—are already pretty efficient, Peterson says. When your heating system is 80% efficient, you can't get a 50% reduction in overall energy use by focusing on squeezing out the last few drops there. Instead, Peterson says we have to put more thought into reducing "plug load"—a fancy way of talking about all the gadgets and appliances we plug into sockets.

Think of all the stuff you leave plugged in all day. Like the microwave. It's nice having that clock function, and it really doesn't take much energy to run. But over the course of a year, all the electricity you used to run that microwave clock ends up being enough to power 30 hours of microwave cooking time, Peterson says. All the little "phantom" draws add up, and they bite us hard.

Automation is the muzzle. I've gotten pretty good about remembering to shut lights off in rooms nobody's using, but expecting me (and millions of Americans like me) to thoughtfully and correctly power down every electronic device they aren't using even half the time is about as unrealistic as expecting Anna Karenina to become the movie blockbuster of the summer. Instead, we can rely on "set it and forget it" systems that turn off unused devices while we're at work or asleep based on timers or occupancy sensors. Peterson already has something like this in his house.

"It's just controlled by my computer in my house, and it cuts power to specific outlets either by timer or click of a button. So I can cut power to my TV overnight, and automatically reduce phantom loads. That system had a bigger impact on my home energy use than all my other energy saving projects combined."

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st And 2nd, 2010

Photographer Sean Stiegemeier saw all of these mediocre pictures of the volcano in Iceland nobody can pronounce the name of, and he figured he should go there and do better. He made this time-lapse video of what happened on May 1st and 2nd, 2010.

Duane Peters cartoon

Just stumbled across this ill cartoon including Duane Peters as one of the voices an characters, it's short and sweet, and if you have any idea who DP is and what he's done, you'll appreciate this insanity.

Dropping in one of my old, rarely seen, photos of Duane from the early 80's below the clip.

Chris Farrell: ‘THE NEW FRUGALITY’ Is The New Normal

I've always lived this way, so no new news to me, but y'all need to check this out for real!

from Dangerous Minds

Chris Farrell of NPR’s Marketplace Money program interviewed about his anti-consumerist manifesto, The New Frugality: How to Consume Less, Save More, and Live Better. Living within your means is not only better for you on so many levels (less stress for instance) but it’s also better for the planet if we would just cut back on all the stupid stuff we consume.

Mick Jagger talks downloading and piracy on 40th anniversary of "Exile on Main Street"

This BBC News interview with [Sir] Mick Jagger on the 40th anniversary of the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street contains a few really choice grafs about the myth that the internet has robbed artists of their livelihoods. He seems pretty chill about the perceived threats of downloading, and explains that for a long time, the record labels did a fine job of robbing artists:

BBC: What's your feeling on technology and music?

Jagger: Technology and music have been together since the beginning of recording. [The internet is] just one facet of the technology of music. Music has been aligned with technology for a long time. The model of records and record selling is a very complex subject and quite boring, to be honest.

BBC: But your view is valid because you have a huge catalogue, which is worth a lot of money, and you've been in the business a long time, so you have perspective.

Jagger: Well, it's all changed in the last couple of years. We've gone through a period where everyone downloaded everything for nothing and we've gone into a grey period it's much easier to pay for things - assuming you've got any money.

BBC: Are you quite relaxed about it?

Jagger: I am quite relaxed about it. But, you know, it is a massive change and it does alter the fact that people don't make as much money out of records.
But I have a take on that - people only made money out of records for a very, very small time. When The Rolling Stones started out, we didn't make any money out of records because record companies wouldn't pay you! They didn't pay anyone!

Then, there was a small period from 1970 to 1997, where people did get paid, and they got paid very handsomely and everyone made money. But now that period has gone.
So if you look at the history of recorded music from 1900 to now, there was a 25 year period where artists did very well, but the rest of the time they didn't.

Here's the entire interview.

From our friend Xeni at BoingBoing

SLAYER GOES TO CHURCH

Keeping somewhat in theme with yesterdays post, here's one that had my whole family rolling.



In case you didn't know I actually shot the back cover photo of the album South of Heaven (see below). I was never a fan, but Rick Rubin asked me to do it, shot up in Seattle around 1987, insane live show, we got some great shots before after and during. Did their 1st ever "tour book" and a few favorites in my book Fuck You Too as well. It's hard to believe it's been over 20 years. Over time these guys have made some cool videos, I gotta admit, particularly the one that looked like it was shot by the great Pyramids, but i gotta admit, if rick could get the releases from all these folks in the video above i bet he'd release that one!



thanks, Luke

Favorite Old George Carlin bit:Religion Is Bullshit

Futuristic Oceanic Pavilion Unveiled for 2012 Yeosu Expo

Emergent Architecture and Kokkugia have designed an incredible Oceanic Pavilion for the Yeosu 2012 Expo in Korea, which will provide another showcase of amazing architecture once the Shanghai Expo has wound to a close. Intended as a centerpiece for the expo, the Oceanic Pavilion is a “celebration of the ocean as a living organism and the co-existence of human culture and ocean ecosystem.” Designed with the help of computer scripts, the amphibious pavilion is made from a series of ETFE membranes and armature that take on a life of their own through their organic layout.


While the 2010 Shanghai Expo is focused on the theme of “Better City, Better Life,” Yeosu’s theme is the living ocean and her coastlines. Deep pleats and mega-armatures composed of fiber composite form the structure of the pavilion, while ‘air beams’ spread over and stabilize the ETFE membranes. Then micro-armatures (also called Mohawks) spread out over the structure like veins, adding additional structural stiffness and ornamentation. Color also plays an important role in the design of the pavilion and is used to intensify transformations in structural behavior – mega-armatures tend towards purple and pink, while ‘Mohawks’ tend towards orange and yellow.

The ETFE membrane bubbles allow natural daylight to seep into the interior of the building and also provide a bit of a thermal barrier and insulation. They are also remarkably lightweight and ensure that the crazy organic structure can be easily deconstructed at the end of the celebration.

from Inhabitat

The YES MEN Launch The YES Lab

Corporate humiliators, The Yes Men, are launching a grassroots effort to help put the brakes on our run amuck military-industrial complex. Because plotting the public shaming of the U.N., Canada, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sucks up so much time, they’re looking to recruit Yes-minded people to Fix The World with them. Thus the newly announced Yes Lab For Creative Activism. Here’s how it’s gonna work:

In a typical Yes Lab project, an activist organization will come to the Yes Lab with a target—e.g. Monsanto, or war profiteers, or one of those “too big to fail” banks, or greedy health insurance companies, or a bad government policy—as well as a goal: to affect public debate, push for legislation, embarrass an evildoer, etc. Depending on ability, they will pay a fee to help the Yes Lab keep going.

We’ll work with the group to develop the smartest, most effective plan to accomplish it. We’ll help assemble the team from within the group as well as our mailing list, we’ll train folks as necessary, and we’ll check in on the project until it’s successful.

Like most well-intentioned start-ups, the Yes Men are now looking for funding. A target of $50,000 would ensure a 6-month period of, “disruptive, productive media events keeping the public reminded of what’s wrong, what could be right, and what’s in store if we don’t change our ways.” To help launch the Yes Lab—and receive some interesting Yes Men goodies in return—click here.

from DangerousMinds

Novice level monster on Fox News fails to defeat atheist

In this Fox News segment about the recent U.S. District Court decision banning the National Day of Prayer, Dan Barker (author of Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists) handily parries a Fox News announcer's clumsy blows.

Unless the Fox News character learns how to devour his prey like the Ayperobos and Ghargatulas who command the prime slots on Fox News, he won't be long for the network.

from BoingBoing

Cement that Helps Reduce Pollution

Photo: http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/0/M/3/1/01Dives_in_Misericordia1.jpg

Italcementi, an Italian cement-making company, has successfully created a new type of cement that may help reduce the levels of pollution in big cities. Enrico Borgarello, Italcementi’s head of research and development, says that the invention can literally “kill” smog and pollution.

This cement, called TX Active, is enhanced with titanium dioxide. Through a natural process called photocatalysis, titanium dioxide takes harmful chemicals such as benzene, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide and turns them into harmless substances such as nitrates and water. The process of photocatalysis occurs whenever the titanium dioxide is exposed to sunlight. The cement is also self-cleaning, as the by-products of the reaction easily wash away with rain water.


Photo: http://www.heidelbergcement.com

Italcementi claims that if even 15% of buildings in a city were coated in TX Active, it would reduce pollution rates by up to 60%. As a company that normally contributes to the destruction of the environment, Italcementi is very proud to be contributing to reducing such damaging effects, and plans to help clean up even the dirtiest of the world's cities. What do you say?


License: Attribution

from environmental graffiti

15 Fascinating Facts About Your Dreams

Late-night snacks can cause nightmares: Nightmares in adults are much less common than in children, but there are some factors that can trigger scary dreams. Besides stress, medications and depression, late night munchies can interfere with your body's metabolism. Eating late will make your brain feel like it needs to stay active for your body, which can lead to crazy dreams if you fall asleep instead of use up your energy.

Dreams occur all the time, not just during REM sleep: Doctors and scientists used to believe that dreams could only occur when people were in their deepest cycles of sleep, or REM sleep. In fact, dreams can occur at any time, though dreams you have during NREM sleep are usually less intense and less vivid. The National Sleep Research Project proposes that "it's possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless."

Day dreams are real: The psychology department at UC Santa Cruz explains that our bodies and brains don't necessarily require actual sleep to dream. As long as certain forces are in effect and the environment is right — when we tune out external stimuli but our brains are still active, for example — we have the potential to dream.

Smells affect your dreams: A 2008 German study found that positive and negative smells affect dreams: positive smells result in positive dreams while negative or unpleasant smells result in bad dreams.

Blind people don't "see" in their dreams: For people who can see, it can be hard to imagine dreaming without lifelike imagery. But blind people dream, too, though not in the same way. According to The Accidental Mind, people who were born blind or who became blind at a very young age generally experience dreams according to their other senses.

The act of dreaming may be like watching a movie: The National Sleep Research Project explains that when you dream, your eye movements react differently during different parts of your dream. Scientists equate this eye movement with the same way you watch a movie.

When you wake up determines whether or not you'll remember your dreams: If you can't remember your dreams, there's no need to worry. Whether or not you remember your dreams is determined by when you wake up. If you wake up in the middle of a dream, for instance, you'll be much more likely to remember it than if you wake up after you stopped dreaming, or even during a less significant part of your dream.

Your dreaming ability matures by 5th grade: Young children do dream, but UC Santa Cruz's psych department explains that their dreams are usually more "bland." We don't realize our dreaming potential until 5th grade or so.

Dreams help depression: It's still debatable whether or not dreams hold any true meaning, but many scientists do believe that dreaming is therapeutic, as it lets your mind freely associate to feelings and explore emotions.

Your vitals are similar to your waking self when you dream in the REM cycle: You might think that sleeping is all about relaxing, but when your body reaches the REM cycle, your heart beat, breathing and facial movements increase to a level similar to that of being awake.

Night terrors affect you when you sleep and when you're awake: Night terrors usually occur in children 4-12 years of age and are much more intense than nightmares. Sleepwalking may occur, and also unlike nightmares, they last even after you've woken up. Scientists believe that night terrors happen earlier in the night for kids, but at any time of the sleep cycle for adults.

iPads and other tech gadgets can make you have crazy dreams: Reading a book in bed is a good way to fall asleep, but not if you're reading your iPad or similarly faux-lit object. The unnatural glow from gadgets keeps your brain active, which can trigger restless sleep and even nightmares or crazy dreams.

Your body uses outside influences to keep you asleep: Unless you are in a very deep sleep, your body tries to use external forces — like music or other outside noises — and incorporate them into your dreams as a way of keeping you asleep.

You're more sexually aroused when you dream: Just as your heart rate and breathing increase when you're in the REM cycle and ready to dream, you become more sexually aroused, too.

We forget 95-99% of our dreams: Sometimes, dreams make such an impression on our conscious minds that they're hard to forget even days later. But for the most part, we forget the majority of the dreams we have each night. Scientists even calculate that we dispose of the memories of 95-99% of our dreams. This tendency to "forget" could be from the fact that we aren't even paying much attention to our dreams as they occur.

Thanks Presurfer

Elevator Rules

Rules were meant to be broken.



from Cracked

(clearly, I'm going on vacation today...)

GREENPEACE environmental protection clip

Give Earth A Hand
This fragile Earth deserves a voice. It needs solutions. It needs change. It needs you.

Crass: There Is No Authority But Yourself

Great post from DangerousMinds

For your viewing pleasure…here’s an exciting find that has yet to materialize on YouTube: Crass: There Is No Authority But Yourself.  Director Alexander Oey‘s hour-long look at the relentlessly uncompromising anarchist punk band came out in ‘06, and features some great, talking head footage of Crass members Steve Ignorant, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher.

While The Feeding of the 5000 came out way back in ‘78, Rimbaud and Vaucher still remain true to the “Crass ideal.”  They continue to practice a sustainable, anti-corporate lifestyle at Dial House, a “safe haven for those individuals of principle who still live by the old punk slogan ‘Do it yourself.’

I remember a time when the procuring of a new Crass single was a matter of great urgency.  Watch below to find out why.


 

Previously on Dangerous Minds: The Unexpected Crass-Beatles Nexus Point

10 Most Incredible Eyes in the Animal Kingdom

While humans tend to only think about their own vision and eyesight, eyes work in all kinds of different ways, allowing some animals to see in ways that humans can only imagine. Here are a few things you should know about a few animals with highly specialized eyes.

10. Owls

Photo: johnmuk
Like many predators, owls have their eyes located together in the front of their face, which allows them excellent depth perception during their hunting expeditions --particularly in low-light situations. Interestingly though, these massive eyes are fixed in their sockets and can barely move. This is why the owl can turn its head so far.

9. Geckos

Photo: Rachaelwrites
Nocturnal geckos have to be able to block out the bright sun during the day while still retaining excellent night vision, which is why they have long zig-zagged pupils that can tightly constrict to let in only pinpoints of light. Interestingly, while humans cannot see colors in dim moonlight, these animals can discriminate between colors and their eyes are calculated to be almost 350 times stronger when it comes to seeing color.

8. Gharials

Photo: Dotmartin
Gharials are ancient creatures that are practically living fossils. Despite this, they have extremely well-evolved eyes that are located in such a way that they can keep almost their entire head underwater and leave their eyes out to look out for prey. Their eyes are also primed for night vision, as a thin, mirror-like structure at the back of their eye helps reflect light that was not already absorbed by the eye back into the eye a second time. When lights are shown on the creatures at night, their eyes will reflect the light so brightly that it looks like they are glowing.

7. Hippos

Photo: Mrbendy
Hippos can see under the water with excellent precision, but what is really fascinating about their eyes is the clear layer of membrane that protects them from debris found underwater. You can kind of see it in the picture.

6. Chameleons

Photo: Ben Frantz Dale
Chameleons have some of the most unique eyes in the entire animal kingdom. They do not have an upper and lower eyelid, but instead just have a cone with a small opening just big enough for their pupils. Each cone can be separately rotated and the chameleon can actually look at two separate things in completely different directions at the same time. This visual advantage makes them exceptionally adept at hunting flying insects as they quickly buzz by.

5. Butterflies

Photo: Ferran
Like most insects, butterflies have compound eyes, which are made of hundreds of microscopic, six-sided lenses that allow them to see in every direction simultaneously. While this type of vision prevents the bugs from seeing things in sharp focus, butterflies can see ultraviolet light, which is invisible to the human eye. This aspect of their vision helps to lead them to flowers filled with delicious nectar.

4. Goats

Photo: Leo Reynolds
The square pupils of goats attract a lot of attention, but they aren’t just there to look pretty. The width of the pupils allows the animals to see at a 330 degree angle, as opposed to humans who generally see at around a 185 degree angle.

3. Frogs

Photo: Rainforest Harley
Frogs are well-known for their big eyes, but few people know why their eyes bulge out. They can protrude their eyes to help them see above the surface while they are underwater. When they close their eyes, they pull them back, where they are covered by a top opaque eyelid and two eyelids made of of thin, translucent membrane.

2. Cuttlefish

Photo: Bullhuss
Some of the most evolved eyes in the entire animal kingdom belong to cuttlefish. Their strange, w-shaped pupils are unable to register color, but can see the polarization of light, which allows them to see contrasts, even in dim light. While humans reshape their eye lenses to see things in better focus, the cuttlefish reshapes its whole eye. Additionally, internal sensors in the eye allow the creatures to observe things in front of them and behind them at the same time.

1. Huskies

Photo: Wikimedia - Przykuta
Their cold, steely eyes are perfect for scoping out movement on the desolate steppes. Almond in shape, moderately spaced and set slightly obliquely, the eyes of a Siberian Husky are ice-blue, dark blue, amber, or brown. In some individual dogs, one eye may be brown and the other blue, or a compelling mixture of the two.

License: Attribution-Share Alike

from environmental graffiti

PUNK in (South) Afirca Documentary

Very interesting looking upcoming doc about the history of South African punk rock. The newer bands look like a snooze but it’s probably worth watching to learn about the once completely illegal apartheid era groups.


 


from DangerousMinds

Presidential panel report: to avoid cancer, eat organic, filter water, avoid plastic food containers

The President's Cancer Panel (http://pcp.cancer.gov, LOL!) today issued a report that includes some surprising recommendations for minimizing environmental cancer risk: eat organic, filter your water, and avoid storing food or beverages in plastics that contain Bisphenol A (BPA). The bottom line is to minimize exposure to potentially harmful chemicals. Snip from Nick Kristof's related op-ed/summary in the NYT:

Traditionally, we reduce cancer risks through regular doctor visits, self-examinations and screenings such as mammograms. The President's Cancer Panel suggests other eye-opening steps as well, such as giving preference to organic food, checking radon levels in the home and microwaving food in glass containers rather than plastic.

In particular, the report warns about exposures to chemicals during pregnancy, when risk of damage seems to be greatest. Noting that 300 contaminants have been detected in umbilical cord blood of newborn babies, the study warns that: "to a disturbing extent, babies are born 'pre-polluted.' "

NYT: New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer, and here's the report (PDF, 240 pages total).

After reading the report, I was inspired to throw out (recycle!) all of the pthalate and BPA-laden cheapo plastic food storage containers from my kitchen, and order replacements made from glass with silicone seals. I already buy mostly organic foods, and drink mostly filtered water. I don't microwave my food at all, but if even storing cold leftovers in certain types of plastic containers might up your risk, this seems an easy and cheap enough change to make. Can't hurt.

from our friend Xeni at BoingBoing

Devo's Jerry Casale on the Kent State Massacre, May 4, 1970

Forty years ago [this week] at Kent State University, Ohio National Guardsmen shot four unarmed students to death and wounded nine others. In 2005 the Vermont Review interviewed Devo's Jerry Casale. Here's an excerpt from the interview in which Casale shares his memories of the Kent State Massacre and how it led to the formation of Devo.

VR: Going back to your early days. You were present at the Kent State shootings in 1970. How did that day affect you?

JC: Whatever I would say would probably not at all touch upon the significance or gravity of the situation at this point of time -- it would probably sound trite or glib. All I can tell you is that it completely and utterly changed my life. I was a white hippie boy and then I saw exit wounds from M1 rifles out of the backs of two people I knew. Two of the four people who were killed, Jeffrey Miller and Allison Krause, were my friends. We were all running our asses off from these motherfuckers. It was total, utter bullshit. Live ammunition and gasmasks - none of us knew, none of us could have imagined... They shot into a crowd that was running away from them! I stopped being a hippie and I started to develop the idea of devolution. I got real, real pissed off.


VR: Does Neil young's "Ohio" strike close to your heart?

JC: Of course. It was strange that the first person that we met, as Devo emerged, was Neil Young. He asked us to be in his movie, The Human Highway. It was so strange - San Francisco in 1977. Talk about life being karmic, small and cyclical - it's absolutely true. In fact I just got a call from a person organizing a 30th Anniversary commemoration. Noam Chomsky will be there and I may go talk there if I can get away. I still remember it so crystal clear, like a dream you will never forget . . . or a nightmare. I still remember every moment. It kind of went in slow motion like a car accident.


VR: You said that the Kent State shooting sort of served as a catalyst for your theory of Devolution, which spawned Devo--

JC: Absolutely. Until then I was a hippie. I thought that the world is essentially good. If people were evil, there was justice... and that the law mattered. All of those silly naïve things. I saw the depths of the horrors and lies and the evil. The paper that evening, the Akron Beacon Journal, said that students were running around armed and that officers had been hurt. So deputy sheriffs went out and deputized citizens. They drove around with shotguns and there was martial law for ten days. 7 PM curfew. It was open season on the students. We lived in fear. Helicopters surrounding the city with hourly rotating runs out to the West Side and back downtown. All first amendment rights are suspended at the instant the governor gives the order. All of the class-action suits by the parents of the slain students were all dismissed out of court, because once the governor announced martial law, they had no right to assemble.

Oh Yes, It’s Devo: An Interview with Jerry Casale

Further interest, read Jeff Kisselof, author of Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s, An Oral History remembered it on his fantastic blog too.

from BoingBoing

Special Cinco De Mayo Message To Arizona

Frankly I am not a fan of the disgustingly exploitative, kitch/ gore films of Rodriguez, and I loath Quentin Tarantino even more (other than the first few films he was a part of), can't stand them. That said, I find the special version of the trailer for "Machete" entirely appropriate for it's cause, and incredible for the number of celebrities who made it happen. As politically incorrect the "film" may be, the folks coming out against Arizona's draconian law is equally politically correct.

Arizona/Cinco de Mayo New Machete Trailer from Robert Rodriguez.



just in case it get's pulled off YOUTUBE again here are more of the same:

Interesting story from the 70's on Vandalism from ABC news

With Harry Reasoner. Written by Andy Rooney.







thanks, Doug!

How Obama Could Use the Gulf Oil Disaster to Buoy Renewable Energy

from Inhabitat

Amid the depressing news that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is still not contained nor getting better — over two weeks after the disaster started — there may be a little green ray of hope. The devastating effects of this oil rig spill could be the perfect moment to garner support for renewable energy. Last week President Obama announced that he was halting all future offshore drilling until this oily mess is figured out, but we think he should take that a step further. This oil spill is the perfect chance to educate the public about the devastating side effects of our dependency on oil and the clean future that renewable energy offers us as an alternative.

Back in January President Obama used his State of the Union address to reach across party lines and involve everyone in the renewable energy movement by highlighting the positive effects it will have on our economy. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is another perfect chance to use his presidential power to push for green. The negative effects of this mishap are apparent to everyone — even the drill baby Sarah Palin acknowledged them — but the positive effects of renewable energy aren’t widely apparent. So let’s connect these two story lines in a national discourse about our future.

The first order of business for the White House should be containing and cleaning up the spill; the second order should be education. Solar panels and Wind Turbines won't deliver oil soaked birds on our country's beaches nor let dangerous toxins seep into our beautiful coastal estuaries. But, along with environmental arguments, financial arguments abound. This spill has already severely affected the Gulf Coast's economic stability. Gulf Coast fisherman are out of jobs because of contaminated waters, the tourism industry expecting to suffer greatly, and the port of New Orleans could be shut down if and when the oil slick reaches its waters.

We're calling to the President to pull all of this information together and speak candidly to the US population. This is his chance to keep future disasters like the Deepwater Horizon spill from threatening the health of our environment and the livelihood of Americans.

+ Inhabitat coverage of the Deepwater Horizon disaster

from Democracy Now
BP Oil Spill Worsens With No Solution in Sight, 210,000 Gallons a Day Spew into Gulf of Mexico

Federal authorities have banned commercial and recreational fishing in a large stretch of water in the Gulf of Mexico due to the massive oil spill caused by a BP-operated rig that exploded nearly two weeks ago. An estimated 210,000 gallons of oil a day is pouring into the Gulf in what might turn out to be the worst industrial environmental disaster in U.S. history. We speak with Riki Ott, a marine toxicologist and a former commercial salmon fisherma’am from Alaska who experienced firsthand the devastating effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Choose Privacy: video from the American Library Association

from Cory Doctrow at Boing Boing

Choose Privacy Week Video from 20K Films on Vimeo.

The American Library Association's "Choose Privacy" week kicks off with a ~20 minute video featuring writers and thinkers talking about the value of privacy in simple, accessible, thought-provoking terms. Included are me, Neil Gaiman, and many others. Produced by Laura Zinger and 20K films, it's a really fine little introduction to subject from the towering heroes of the information revolution: the librarians.

Patti Smith on her Life, Her Art, Her Singing and Speaking Out on "Democracy Now"

We bring you a Democracy Now special with the singer-songwriter, poet, artist, and punk rock legend, Patti Smith, on her life, her art and her singing and speaking out. “I do things that make people upset. My political views or my humanist views have caused me a lot of censorship, but I don’t have a problem with that,” Smith says. “What I would have more of a problem with is, if I had to look back on my life and say, ‘Yeah I compromised here’ and ‘yeah I did this so I could get that’–once you start doing that it’s like a house of cards, it all falls apart.”

Over 10,000 protesters gathered in New York's financial district to demand financial reform.

from AlterNet

After a year of what seemed like nonstop Tea Party coverage, it's easy to forget that Americans ever protested in anything but solid ethnic blocs, or that Americans ever gathered to express coherent grievances grounded in reality.
Yesterday's AFL-CIO-led protest on Wall Street was an overdue reminder.

More than 5,000 union members and others delivered a crisp message with their march from City Hall to the Bowling Green Bull. In contrast to recent protests on the right, the event was noticeably lacking in loaded and ahistorical symbols like Gadsen flags, and refrained from vilifying individuals in favor of calling out institutions. Of hundreds of signs hoisted, only one was branded with the Obama logo. The signs were non-partisan and dealt with real problems -- namely, this country's rogue, unregulated finance sector. There was only one puppet, a fanged vampire squid meant to symbolize Goldman Sachs. The banners declared "Wall Street: Never Again" and "Less Audis, More Audits." Almost to a one, they echoed the clear policy demands of the day: regulatory reform, new taxes on banks and speculators, and a jobs bill.

The afternoon began with direct action protests in the lobbies of Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase. Next came a series of speakers -- teachers, students, workers -- that put New York City faces on the nationwide hard times. Representing hundreds of labor, religious and community groups, they demanded Wall Street do its part to fix the mess it created. They railed against budget cuts in city housing, health and education, overseen by the city's billionaire mayor who opposes a financial transaction tax.

"The result of these cuts will be more homelessness, more joblessness and more hunger," said Sean Banks, a high school teacher in Brooklyn. The planned cuts will also result in bigger class sizes. Currently the New York state House and Senate are considering bills that would see New York lay off between 4,000 and 8,500 teachers.

Before leading the march to the Bowling Green Bull, the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka issued a direct three-part challenge to the banks: stop fighting reform and call off the lobbyists; stop speculating and start lending; and "take responsibility for the mess you made."

The demands resonated with a crowd thick with the unemployed and city workers facing layoffs in their departments and agencies. "These bankers have no shame," said Marie Mitchell, a city clerical worker. "I saw the Goldman Sachs guys on TV the other day, still refusing to apologize for anything. They should be sent to jail, like Madoff."

"Wall Street created this mess," said Brussard Alston, a train conductor with Transit Workers Local 100. "So let's tax them and their million dollar bonuses. Make them share. Why make everyone in the city suffer from cut services?" The MTA recently announced its plans to fire hundreds of bus drivers, station agents and train conductors, as well as reduce transit vouchers for students. "In effect, that's a tax of $1,000 dollars on the poor," said Alston. "Some kids just won't go to school. But Bloomberg is against a financial trade tax?"

After a year of what seemed like nonstop Tea Party coverage, it's easy to forget that Americans ever protested in anything but solid ethnic blocs, or that Americans ever gathered to express coherent grievances grounded in reality.
Yesterday's AFL-CIO-led protest on Wall Street was an overdue reminder.

More than 5,000 union members and others delivered a crisp message with their march from City Hall to the Bowling Green Bull. In contrast to recent protests on the right, the event was noticeably lacking in loaded and ahistorical symbols like Gadsen flags, and refrained from vilifying individuals in favor of calling out institutions. Of hundreds of signs hoisted, only one was branded with the Obama logo. The signs were non-partisan and dealt with real problems -- namely, this country's rogue, unregulated finance sector. There was only one puppet, a fanged vampire squid meant to symbolize Goldman Sachs. The banners declared "Wall Street: Never Again" and "Less Audis, More Audits." Almost to a one, they echoed the clear policy demands of the day: regulatory reform, new taxes on banks and speculators, and a jobs bill.

The afternoon began with direct action protests in the lobbies of Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase. Next came a series of speakers -- teachers, students, workers -- that put New York City faces on the nationwide hard times. Representing hundreds of labor, religious and community groups, they demanded Wall Street do its part to fix the mess it created. They railed against budget cuts in city housing, health and education, overseen by the city's billionaire mayor who opposes a financial transaction tax.

"The result of these cuts will be more homelessness, more joblessness and more hunger," said Sean Banks, a high school teacher in Brooklyn. The planned cuts will also result in bigger class sizes. Currently the New York state House and Senate are considering bills that would see New York lay off between 4,000 and 8,500 teachers.

Before leading the march to the Bowling Green Bull, the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka issued a direct three-part challenge to the banks: stop fighting reform and call off the lobbyists; stop speculating and start lending; and "take responsibility for the mess you made."

The demands resonated with a crowd thick with the unemployed and city workers facing layoffs in their departments and agencies. "These bankers have no shame," said Marie Mitchell, a city clerical worker. "I saw the Goldman Sachs guys on TV the other day, still refusing to apologize for anything. They should be sent to jail, like Madoff."

"Wall Street created this mess," said Brussard Alston, a train conductor with Transit Workers Local 100. "So let's tax them and their million dollar bonuses. Make them share. Why make everyone in the city suffer from cut services?" The MTA recently announced its plans to fire hundreds of bus drivers, station agents and train conductors, as well as reduce transit vouchers for students. "In effect, that's a tax of $1,000 dollars on the poor," said Alston. "Some kids just won't go to school. But Bloomberg is against a financial trade tax?"