Living sustainably – changing light bulbs, appliances, car, lowering and raising the thermostat, buying locally, taking mass transit (and of course, it’s going to take more than this).
Survival – having a place to live, food to eat, water to drink, neighbors, or family, or government to help.
I’m guessing, like so many other things, if...
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Consider for a moment, the phrase, “Think globally, act locally,” and also those (multinational) masses who currently suffer in wars, floods, fires, disease, starvation, etc. Also, consider, or imagine, a privileged lifestyle, my own for example – middle class New York City suburban.
Next place two images side by side (you know, a guided visualization) - mass...
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In our lives and in the world we/I live, what we now anticipate will happen fast, will not change, and what we are not considering now, will change, and fast.
I believe that people speak to each other to, and from, behind masks, that what gets said gets inside no matter what – and that...
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I confess, this goofy looking guy is me holding the door open at the 2010 Clearwater Festival, while a very good natured friend snapped the pic, and those waiting to get in thought god knows what.
As global warming, honey bees, AIDS, Darfur, global economic crash, and ocean oil leaks, present dramatic and dynamic challenges...
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George Carlin. Man of many words, and I will not speak to any of them, but I will borrow this quote, and add it to a Billy Joel song, “Angry Young Man.” For me, it raises the question of, why am I alive? And the answer of course is only mine, for me. And it...
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When I was a young kid I remember playing a kind of game with my friends. We didn’t have a name for it, but it could have been called, “Pushed to the Limits.” It’s not as serious as it sounds, but it did have meaning. The game went like this – each kid would...
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British politics is dirty and noisy since who knows when. That’s the Brits history, and that’s their problem. The problem with US dirty politics is that it:
1. Drives up costs for candidates.
2. Has the potential to drive away capable potential candidates.
3. Confuses the hell out of everyone so we no longer know what the...
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I just finished listening to a radio interview with an “expert” in terrorism talking about the (failed) Times Square bombing and it left me mumbling very ungentlemanly epithets at the radio. And it’s not because I think I know more than experts in this field, it’s because this expert was stating that – it...
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In a wonderful article published, March 10, 2010, in The Nation, Steven Hill lays out the benefits and history of “Europe’s Answer to Wall Street.” After a brief nod to cooperatives, Hill delivers an insightful presentation of co-determination, which I must admit, though it is found in wikipedia, I have never heard of.
The article...
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I realize this question seems a tease.
But regardless what expectations may lead us to believe, the Internet as we know it is barely 30 years old. And though you can’t see it, it is a monster to maintain, both for its size and complexity and its cost.
By not supportable I mean - in the event that...
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This planet can not sustain current economic growth (given current population). We can’t go on as we have been. As described in many venues, including Jarad Diamond’s book, “Collapse,” the planet’s resources are finite and being used at an accelerated rate – examples – food supplies from the oceans are being depleted by over...
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I used to think an open global economy was not such a bad idea – cheaper goods, and people who had fewer work opportunities, at least had work. And workers’ rights issues would work themselves out, hopefully. Anyway that’s one way of rationalizing freedom in the marketplace.
What took a long time for me to understand...
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The New Public Library
Proposal overview
The post-industrial age public library had an inspired calling – make books available to the working class. The coming of the information age introduced computers and video tapes to these libraries, and now the post-information age is leaving libraries behind in favor of Google, Kindle, and iPod. It may not...
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Here’s a “what if” (an idea that makes sense but probably can’t work).
Stock value based on long-range planning and financial health, rather than just short-term profit increase.
It’s currently easy to see the pitfalls of a short view on profit taking in the stock market. Well, the problem for investors not owners at any rate. But...
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Many of us know something we can do to help the environment – like using energy saving light bulbs and recycling – but there are other simple things we can do, that maybe we don’t know about, or maybe we wish we didn’t have to…
Like what?
Eating sea food.
Disposing cat litter, dental floss, or old prescription...
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Washington, D.C.
Stollen from the Olympic training center, this photo represents a similar memorial (not unlike the Licoln Memorial), dedicated to sustainability.
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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In his Pulitzer Prize–winning bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, geographer Diamond laid out a grand view of the organic roots of human civilizations in flora, fauna, climate and geology. That vision takes on apocalyptic overtones in this fascinating comparative study of societies that have, sometimes fatally, undermined their own ecological...
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This is a video we found that offers a view of wind farms not readily seen. And even though it is not a personal account, and it does come from a company, we think it is commercial free enough and interesting enough to be here.
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Lately I am bothering myself thinking about two ideas – one is called “peak oil,” the other concerns microwave ovens and firewood.
When you’re down, it’s down, and when it’s up, you’re up.
I’ve yet to read or hear an explanation of peak oil I can understand or believe. Like you perhaps, I’ve heard that demand...
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Stainless steel water bottle, solar recharging path light, hand and solar powered radio, bookcase from sustainably harvested trees, non-toxic paint and stain, biodegradable laundry detergent, compost bin, florescent light, recycled paper, shopping bag made from recycled fabric -
- all of these things are manufactured. And all production, green or otherwise, must utilize energy and new...
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Gracie is her name, and she loves going out for walks, not with the harness and leash I use, but she has no choice.
Actually it’s a foot that’s missing, her right rear, and when Gracie walks she relies on three legs, unless the floor is carpeted. Here’s what happened today when I took Gracie out to...
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No one really knows how and when these things will affect us, but, major events are on the horizon: peak oil, global warming, national debt, population growth, resource collapse (and as if we needed more – pandemics, nuclear proliferation, terrorism). Those affected will likely turn for support to relatives, friends, government or organizations, in...
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“A Friend Of The Earth”
by T.C.Boyle
Futuristic funny, fantasy, realistic, amusing, and a little scary. Great writing. From the jacket:
“It is the year 2025. Global warming is a reality. The biosphere has collapsed and most mammals — not to mention fish, birds, and frogs — are extinct. Tyrone Tierwater is eking out a bleak living...
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Like fish? Like filet of Sole? Know what that is? And where it comes from?
A good resource for fish information is the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and they state the following:
“Some Atlantic flounder species are sold as sole; however, “true” sole only occur in the Pacific Ocean.
Many different species of flatfish live off the Atlantic coast...
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Saving for some, cost increase for others. But simple.
Require an easy-to-obtain physician’s prescription (infinitely renewable) in order to purchase cigarettes or tobacco products.
Require all tobacco product sales outlets to sell only to prescription holders.
Adjust prescription holders’ health care premiums to reflect their smoking habits.
End.
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