Friday, November 28, 2003buy nothing day
Today is generally considered the busiest shopping day of the year in America. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and most people don't have to work today, so it's off to the mall (yay!)
Today is also Buy Nothing Day and independent groups all over the world will be doing a variety of actions as a reaction against the obnoxiously rampant consumerist holiday that Christmas has become. It was started in the Pacific Northwest 12 years ago and has been growing exponentially every year since.
While I support the general idea of making a statement against mall zombie behavior, I believe that it's not whether you shop, but where you shop. Money is just a representation of value and not evil in and of itself. Consider buying gifts directly from local shops and artists. These will ultimately be appreciated more and will help support family businesses and the local economy. Shopping doesn't have to be a bad karma activity, simply think about where the money you're spending is going.
Adbusters' Buy Nothing Day Page
http://adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd/
In America, Buy Nothing Day played out in some of the nation's last remaining public spaces - its malls. Costumed groups of revelers managed to slip in and stay long enough to set up tables and suggest alternatives to heavy holiday spending such as giving to charity. Spend time with family and friends, rather than money on them, was the message. Yes it's cliche, but, the things most worth pursuing, and exchanging - love, ritual, attention, sacrifice, freedom-are the things no-one can buy.
posted @ 10:30 AM PDT Wednesday, November 26, 2003bringing back the draft?
The US Government recently issued a call for draft board members on its "Defend America" public relations website. Draft boards are responsible for choosing which individuals are conscripted on a local level.
When the media started speculating about the chances of young people being drafted into military service for the first time since Vietnam, they later pulled it down.
The Memory Hole investigative website has posted the materials that are being sent to potential board members:
Draft Board Member Information Booklet
http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/draft-board-booklet.htm
The all-volunteer armed force, instituted in 1973, was never intended to stand alone in time of emergency. In the event of conflict, the armed forces will be quickly augmented by the National Guard and the Reserves. If necessary, the Selective Service System will be mobilzed to direct registrants to the Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS) around the country.
I predict they'll wait to draft anyone until *after* the next election, but it looks like preparations are being made.
posted @ 04:00 PM PDT Tuesday, November 25, 2003new Naomi
Naomi Klein wrote the important book No Logo which catalyzed widespread interest in the effects of trade globalization.
Here are two of her more recent editorials:
Bush's Aids 'gift' has been seized by industry giants
http://www.guardian.co.uk/aids/story/0,7369,1061787,00.html
Fighting Aids was supposed to show George Bush's softer side. "Seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many," he said in his State of the Union address in January.
He has since reconsidered, deciding instead to offer a few more opportunities to the few. First he handed the top job of his global Aids initiative to a Big Pharma boss, then he broke his $3bn promise of Aids relief. And now there are concerns that he may sabotage a plan to send cheap drugs to countries ravaged by Aids.
America's enemy within
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1093185,00.html
The Miami model of dealing with domestic dissent reaches far beyond a single meeting. On Sunday, the New York Times reported on a leaked FBI bulletin revealing "a coordinated, nationwide effort to collect intelligence" on the anti-war movement. The memorandum singles out lawful protest activities. Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the document revealed that "the FBI is targeting Americans who are engaged in lawful protest. The line between terrorism and legitimate civil disobedience is blurred."
posted @ 10:19 PM PDT Monday, November 24, 2003like the river
Going with the flow
means being present
in the moment which
requires calm focus
letting yourself be
open to coincidence
and working towards
your hearts desires
posted @ 11:50 PM PDT Sunday, November 23, 2003book review: Nickel & Dimed
I've just finished reading the artfully written Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. The author is a successful writer with a PhD (who is used to a comfortable income) who experimented with trying to find and live on minimum wage jobs. She learned firsthand how difficult it is to get by, even when working 7 days a week at 2 jobs.
She worked in several different jobs in different American cities. In Maine she worked as a "Merry Maid" cleaning houses all day at top speed for $6.65 an hour (the company charged the customer $25.00.) Here she explains one of the training videos she watched during employee orientation:
At first I find the videos on kitchens and bathrooms baffling, and it takes me several minutes to realize why: there is no water, or almost no water involved ... germs are never mentioned in the videos provided by The Maids. Our antagonists exist entirely in the visible world -- soap scum, dust, counter crud, dog hair, stains, and smears -- and are to be attacked by a damp rag or, in hard core cases, by Dobie (the brand of plastic scouring pad we use). We scrub only to remove impurities that might be detectable to a customer by hannd or by eye; otherwise our only job is to wipe. Nothing is said about the possibility of transporting bacteria, by rag or by hand, from bathroom to kitchen or even from one house to the next. It is the "cosmetic touches" that the videos emphasize...
In Minnesota, she worked in the clothing department at WalMart, where her job was to put clothes away and organize the racks all day. A few selections:
The theme of covert tensions, overcome by right thinking and positive attitude, continues in the twelve-minute video entitled "You've Picked a Great Place to Work." Here various associates testify to the "essential feeling of family for which WalMart is so well-known," leading up to the conclusion that we don't need a union. Once, long ago, unions had a place in American society, but they "no longer have much to offer workers," which is why people have been leaving them "by the droves." WalMart is booming; unions are declining: judge for yourself."
...
My job is not, however, as genteel as it first appears, thanks to the sheer volume of clothing in motion. At WalMart, as opposed to say Lord & Taylor, customers shop with supermarket-style shopping carts, which they can fill to the brim before proceeding to the fitting room. There the rejected items, which are about 90 percent of try-ons, are folded and put on hangers by whoever is staffing the fitting room, then placed in fresh shopping carts for Melissa and me. So this is how we measure our workload -- in carts. When I get in , Melissa, who shift begins earlier than mine, will tell me how things have been going -- "Can you believe, eight carts this morning!"
...
After all, you'd need a lot stronger word than "dysfunctional" to describe a family where a few people get to eat at the table while the rest -- the "associates" and all the dark-skinned seamstresses and factory workers worldwide who make the things we sell -- lick up the drippings from the floor: "psychotic" would be closer to the mark.
When you only make $300 a week, it's difficult to find someplace to live with rent you can afford and still have enough money left to eat. The author lived in motels and scary by-the-week one room apartments:
There are no secret economies that nourish the poor; on the contrary, there are a host of special costs. If you can't put up the two months' rent you need to secure an apartment, you end up paying through the nose for a room by the week. If you have only a room, with a hot plate at best, you can't save by cooking up huge lentil stews that can be frozen for the week ahead. You eat fast food or the hot dogs and styrofoam cups of soup that can be microwaved in a convenience store. If you have no money for health insurance ... you go without routine care or prescription drugs and end up paying the price.
Despite the somewhat depressing subject of this book, it's extremely interesting and readable. Each work site features a different cast of characters, and the writing has a clever snarky flavor of dark humor to it. It's an eye opening read, and just might give you the perspective needed to make your own job suck a little less.
posted @ 02:49 PM PDT Friday, November 21, 2003genetically modified food is your friend!
An agribusiness association has created special programs for teachers and kids about genetically modified food.
GM food is certainly a controversial issue, but there's something creepy about using materials written by a corporate PR vehicle in the classroom...
Opening Message of the "Biotechnology Basics Activity Book"
Hi Kids,
This is an activity book for young people like you about biotechnology a really neat topic. Why is it such a neat topic? Because biotechnology is helping to improve the health of the Earth and the people who call it home. In this book, you will take a closer look at biotechnology. You will see that biotechnology is being used to figure out how to: 1) grow more food; 2) help the environment; and 3) grow more nutritious food that improves our health. As you work through the puzzles in this book, you will learn more about biotechnology and all of the wonderful ways it can help people live better lives in a healthier world.
Have Fun!
sponsored by the Council For Biotechnology Information, an industry trade group |
'Agriscience Bus' Takes Teachers For a Ride
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17227
The surprise came on the bus. Our instructor was a friendly guy who directs our county's farm bureau. His blend of agriculture and political science experience made him perfect for his job. Our tight schedule didn't allow much time for group discussions so he suggested that we talk together on the bus. Yet when I indicated that I would like to discuss the controversy over genetically modified crops, the friendliness switched to off. He snapped, "Not on this bus. Not while we're paying for it. That's not on the syllabus."
Council for Biotechnology Information
http://www.whybiotech.com
The Council for Biotechnology Information communicates science-based information about the benefits and safety of agricultural and food biotechnology. Its members are the leading biotechnology companies and trade associations.
Plant biotechnology is already helping provide the world with more and better food while protecting the environment. And this new technology holds even more promise in the future. That means better quality of life for real people with real appetites and real needs.
posted @ 04:22 PM PDT Thursday, November 20, 2003freedom fighters?
The U.S. Military's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly known as the School of the Americas or SOA) is supposed to be about "promoting peace, democratic values, and respect for human rights through inter-American cooperation," but is that what's really going on there?
What is the SOA?
http://www.soaw.org/new/type.php?type=8
Over its 56 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, £disappeared,§ massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins.
posted @ 04:54 PM PDT Wednesday, November 19, 2003escalation of obscenity
Is it a coincidence that the Paris Hilton sex tape scandal is happening right before her new "reality" TV show comes out?
I'd say this is happening for the same reason celebrities wear hideous outfits to awards shows: to get mentioned in the news. This is especially important for someone who is famous merely for being rich and attractive and not for having any particular talent.
We're biologically programmed to respond emotionally to sex, and advertisers and PR managers know this. However, we're so bombarded with sex in advertising and the media today that we've become desensitized and this is what it takes to get people's attention. Also, what shocks grandma is less likely to elicit a response in a teenager with regular Internet access. For many, porn has become normal.
I'm personally pro-sex & think violence is far more obscene. Unfortunately, we're seeing the same kind of escalation and de-sensitization there...
The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
-- Oscar Wilde |
posted @ 06:22 PM PDT Tuesday, November 18, 2003modern trains
I've always been fascinated by high-speed train technology. The standard gauge railroads are extremely old technology, but they linger because it's expensive to put down new rails.
The Chunnel train is very fast, so are several trains in Japan. One experimental train has reached incredible speeds:
Japanese Train Sets New Speed Record
http://www.goasiapacific.com/news/GoAsiaPacificBNA_991248.htm
Japan's Maglev has set a new speed record for magnetically levitated trains, reaching 560 kilometres per hour during unmanned testing.
The train's operator, the Central Japan Railway company, says the new speed, clocked on an experimental track west of the capital Tokyo, broke the previous record of 552 kilometers per hour set by a manned Maglev in April 1999.
The company is planning to conduct further tests on Wednesday in an effort to further improve the train's speed, and is aiming to attain a maximum speed of 580 kilometres per hour.
The superconducting Maglev train, which uses magnetic forces to float over its track, has been under testing in Japan since the late 1996, but is yet to be launched on the market.
posted @ 07:45 PM PDT Monday, November 17, 2003made the switch
I've recently made the switch from Microsoft to Apple and though it's going to take a bit of getting used to, I'm already convinced that I made the right decision. My new computer is well-designed, easy to use, and so far it hasn't crashed once (unlike the PC I'm using at my current work contract which implodes at least thrice daily.) When I turn it on, the OS loads up immediately. Everything works.
It looks as if Microsoft is starting to realize that their policy of releasing buggy software in order to maximize profits isn't such a smart business decision in the long run, but it's too late for this former customer; I've definitely converted.
posted @ 07:35 PM PDT Sunday, November 16, 2003movie review: Master and Commander
Last night I went to see the new Russell Crowe movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with someone who not only had read the books it is based on, but is generally obsessed with sailing fiction. It exceeded both of our expectations!
The film does an excellent job of showing what life aboard a cramped 19th century British Navy vessel was like (luckily, without the smells) including extremely snug sleeping conditions, frightening medical procedures, dubious food, hard work, and the intensity of the war experience. The acting, casting, special effects, soundtrack, and script are all excellent. I highly recommend it and think it's definite Oscar material.
posted @ 02:39 PM PDT Friday, November 14, 2003future fish?
There is great debate about the true state of our fish supplies on Earth. This is partially because it is impossible to count exactly how many fish are left, and also because many people who depend on the proceeds of fishing for a living don't want to be told that they have to limit their catch, especially in communities where fishing is a traditional (and sometimes the only) way of making money.
It used to be that only people that lived near the ocean could eat fresh fish. Now it's shipped in by air and sushi is available in even the most land-locked cities. Unfortunately, this increased availability comes at a price.
Big-Fish Stocks Fall 90 Percent Since 1950, Study Says
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0515_030515_fishdecline.html
Only 10 percent of all large fish
both open ocean species including tuna, swordfish, marlin and the large groundfish such as cod, halibut, skates and flounder
are left in the sea, according to research published in today's issue of the scientific journal Nature.
Cod is Dead
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16509
Nor is it just our consumption of large fish (such as cod, swordfish, and tuna) that threatens these species; it is also our depletion of their food sources. Fisheries biologist Daniel Pauly calls this "fishing down the food chain." That chain, says Ellis, is actually more a web of interdependence; for example, when California sea otters were hunted almost to extinction, their preferred food, sea urchins, proliferated. The urchins in turn destroyed kelp beds, which once provided habitat for numerous fish and thus the cycle of destruction and alteration persists and magnifies.
America's Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change
http://www.pewoceans.org/oceans/index.asp
Many ecologically and commercially crucial fish species, including groundfish and salmon populations along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, face overfishing and numerous other threats. Thirty percent of the fish populations that have been assessed are overfished or are being fished unsustainably. An increasing number of these species are being driven toward extinction. Already depleted sea turtle, marine mammal, seabird, and noncommercial fish populations are endangered by incidental capture in fishing gear. Destructive fishing practices are damaging vital habitat upon which fish and other living resources depend. Combined, these aspects of fishing are changing relationships among species in food webs and altering the functioning of marine ecosystems.
posted @ 03:31 PM PDT Thursday, November 13, 2003the meatrix
Here's a fabulous little animated cartoon about modern farming methods that's also a parody of the Matrix (starring Leo the pig and Moo-pheus the cow.) The site also provides practical information about this important subject. More than just animal rights are at stake.
The Meatrix
http://www.themeatrix.com
The Meatrix is a product of the first-ever Free Range Flash Activism Grant. In February of 2003, Free Range, a cutting-edge design company, invited hundreds of non-profit organizations to apply for free production of a Flash movie. After carefully reviewing more than 50 applications, the grant was awarded to GRACE (Global Resource Action Center for the Environment). GRACE works to end the destructive and dangerous practices of factory farming and to promote sustainable agriculture - a goal close to Free Range's heart. Reform of the farming industry would mean significant gains in many of the areas Free Range fights for: health, food safety, economic justice, workers' rights, environmental integrity and animal rights.
posted @ 11:51 AM PDT Wednesday, November 12, 2003who cares?
Selected quotations on humanity's biggest recurring problem...
The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves.
-- Plato |
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.
-- Albert Einstein |
All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke |
We may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all - the apathy of human beings.
-- Helen Keller |
posted @ 03:29 PM PDT Tuesday, November 11, 2003global consciousness
The idea of a collective consciousness shared among all humans is certainly nothing new. It's difficult to measure a concept like this, but a scientific project based at Princeton University is attempting to do just that!
The Global Consciousness Project
http://noosphere.princeton.edu
Personal experience is supported by a growing number of good experiments which show that consciousness and intention have subtle but important effects in the world. We know that groups of people sometimes experience a special resonance of feelings and ideas, and recent scientific evidence indicates that effects of coherent group consciousness can be detected with appropriate instruments. The Global Consciousness Project (GCP) is an international collaboration of researchers extending this research to global dimensions via the Internet. The project uses technology and methods designed to record effects of events that stimulate us to integrate as a world-wide consciousness. Examples include the funeral ceremonies of Princess Diana, the first hour of NATO bombing in Yugoslavia, and a few minutes around midnight on any New Years Eve. We predicted that the turn of the Millennium would have measurable effects on our interconnected, global human consciousness. The results show a strong "spike" for the Y2K moment in several different types of analysis.
posted @ 04:07 PM PDT Monday, November 10, 2003Google tools
Google has become *the* place to search the web. Their search engine is sophisticated, smart, and most Internet users go there first when looking for information. I'm a big fan of the company and their work.
Google is more than just the search engine however! They also offer a number of other excellent tools and resources that are worth checking out. Here are two of the best:
The Google Toolbar is a useful add-on for Internet Explorer. It gives you easy access to searching their web index, and includes a pop-up blocker. It's also completely free to download!
Google News searches thousands of news stories and groups them together by topic. It's very interesting to read different perspectives on the same event. I check this site several times daily and find that it's one of the best ways to keep on top of the news.
posted @ 10:58 AM PDT Saturday, November 8, 2003measuring the economy
When newspapers and politicians say the economy is improving, how are they measuring it?
Manipulating the GNP
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17132
The GNP is a false measure of a phony prosperity and an irrelevant indicator of America's future. People who care about the future need to look beyond the GNP statistic and ask hard questions about job loss and trade and budget deficits, about increasing economic disparity as the rich get richer, the poor face crises of housing and health care, and middle-income Americans pile up credit card debt; about environmental issues like global warming that are going to cause expensive and socially wrenching dislocation as tides rise and the climate changes.
posted @ 04:43 PM PDT Friday, November 7, 2003harmonic concordance
I've been getting a lot of email from friends who are into astrology about a special event happening tomorrow (November 8, 2003) which is being called the harmonic concordance. Apparently, the planets are going to be lining up in a star tetrahedron pattern, and many prophecies talk about it.
I'm generally skeptical about such things, but instead of just rejecting anything that sounds a bit flaky I try to keep an open mind to even the wackiest theories out there. I enjoy trying to figure out why people believe what they do. This one is interesting to me for some reason that I can't nail down exactly. Most of the prophecies talk about good things happening, so perhaps it's wishful thinking!
Will anything happen tomorrow? While I am not going to make any predictions (or worry about it) I will go outside and check out the total lunar eclipse that is happening at the same time...
posted @ 10:40 AM PDT Thursday, November 6, 2003next chapter in the space age
The Voyager spacecraft were launched from Earth in 1977 to explore outer space and send pictures back. It's been a long journey, but Voyager I is about to leave our solar system!
Voyager says goodbye to Solar System
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994350
The most distant man-made object - the Voyager 1 spacecraft - is finally leaving the Solar System. Astronomers think the probe has reached a boundary where the Sun's influence starts to wane.
"This is a really exciting milestone," says Stamatios Krimigis of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. "It's the first time a machine has gone outside the cocoon of the solar atmosphere."
posted @ 02:06 PM PDT Wednesday, November 5, 2003fair and balanced
Fox News may have trademarked the catchphrase "fair and balanced" but does this really reflect their editorial policies?
The Fox News Memo
http://poynter.org/forum/?id=thememo
If you really want to know about bias at Fox, talk to the grunts who work there - the desk assistants, tape editors, writers, researchers and assorted producers who have to deal with it every day. Ask enough of them what goes on, promise them anonymity, and you'll get the real story.
...
The fact is, daily life at FNC is all about management politics. I say this having served six years there - as producer of the media criticism show, News Watch, as a writer/producer of specials and (for the last year of my stay) as a newsroom copy editor. Not once in the 20+ years I had worked in broadcast journalism prior to Fox - including lengthy stays at The Associated Press, CBS Radio and ABC/Good Morning America - did I feel any pressure to toe a management line. But at Fox, if my boss wasn't warning me to "be careful" how I handled the writing of a special about Ronald Reagan ("You know how Roger [Fox News Chairman Ailes] feels about him."), he was telling me how the environmental special I was to produce should lean ("You can give both sides, but make sure the pro-environmentalists don't get the last word.")
posted @ 09:39 AM PDT Monday, November 3, 2003risks of electronic voting
Using computers to count votes only makes sense, as it certainly makes it easier than the old fashioned way. Unfortunately, this could also make cheating (or hacking) possible. Strict controls need to be in place to make sure the counting is honest, and democracy is being served.
How this one plays out may affect us all.
Will Electronic Voting Machines Steal the 2004 Election?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16874
Ownership: When a system that belongs to the public becomes secret, it becomes doubly important to make sure we can completely trust those who run it. Voting machine companies are not required to tell us who owns them. Two of the top six firms have been foreign-owned: Election.com, owned by the Saudis until an acquisition by Accenture recently, and Sequoia, now owned by DeLaRue (Great Britain). Three of the top six firms have owners and/or directors who represent vested interests:
- Election Systems & Software, the largest company. Main owner is a company owned by Senator Chuck Hagel's campaign finance director, Michael McCarthy. Hagel has owned shares in both the voting company itself and in the parent company run by his campaign finance director, and Hagel was the CEO and Chairman of the voting machine company while it built the machines that counted his votes.
Maryland Democrats Want Outside Voting Machine Audit
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55918-2003Oct20.html
Democratic legislative leaders called yesterday for independent auditors to study problems with Maryland's voting machines, saying they do not trust Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to resolve the matter on his own.
File Sharing Pits Copyright Against Free Speech
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1103-04.htm
Advocates and journalists have mined the trove of corporate messages to find statements that appear to suggest many continuing security problems with the software that runs the system, and last-minute software changes that, by law, are generally not allowed after election authorities have certified the software for an election.
posted @ 09:31 PM PDT Sunday, November 2, 2003phages
Something interesting to keep an eye on in the field of medicine...
Silent Killers: Fantastic Phages?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/19/48hours/main522596.shtml
The treatment used something called bacteriophage or £phage§ as some call it. Researchers at Eliava are convinced that phages are a fine, natural alternative to antibiotics. Phages are harmless viruses that have only one purpose in life: to eat bacteria that cause infection. Susan Spencer reports that they could help overcome our dangerous dependence on antibiotics.
Bacteriophage Home Phage
http://www.evergreen.edu/phage/home.html
posted @ 06:20 PM PDT
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