A good use of the web

Just a simple kudos to the Seattle Examiner for including map content in their news article.  Now maybe American's will be able to find our own country on a map, and not react like this poor girl (who just plain got nervous, but clearly could use a little work on her public speaking and maybe a little less on her image.

Greenwashing the world brown

Inescapable: the fate of man to thwart ourselves and lead the world to ruin, with a bright eye, and torch held high, we face the future without contempt. Buy woa will be upon our brow when the future's falling failing furrow heeds no life from ground. Profit turns our daily clocks, wound with gears and springs clamoring for more resources, industry, blood, sweat, and tears.

In years far from now, people will not wonder why we went so wrong, it will be visible in the records, the recipts and tax histories. Written plainly for all to see: GREED. I do not ask for forgiveness, because we do not deserve it.

Greed in the Amazon

don't worry, the list will continue...

Moving in: Critical Paths

Prepare to be updated:  I have now moved in.  With the unprecedented help of 6 awesome friends I was able to move in to my house in one day, leaving only a few remaining trips of odds and ends.  This is how the critical path to moving in went;

 

Get keys on July 20th.  got them at around 11 am in front of my office from my awesome realtor Jesse Knight.  I was so ecstatic, I had to wander around for a few moments before going back to work to smile at everyone.  That night was also the release of Harry Potter 7, which is awesome so I didn't even go to my house to try out the new keys, I went to happy hour first with a bunch of buddies, then to Powell's till I had the book.  I decided to go to my parent's house afterwards because I had forgotten to bring my sleeping gear in the car that day.

 

Saturday morning arrived and I read HP in bed till about noon.  It is amazing.  Had some breakfast with my mom, packed my camping gear and headed over to my house.  My home.  All I brought was my pack and a laundry basket with my favorite Persian rug.  My buddy Adam Friedman (of Ovenlight) and his beautiful wife met me at my house and helped me make a grand entrance.  It was a great occasion.  Oh!  I forgot to mention the other thing I brought over - beer.  We drank some.  Shannon left to run an errand and Adam and I chilled out and checked the place out.  Turning all the knobs, opening all the drawers, checking all the nooks and crannies.  It was great fun, and when Shannon returned, she brought a wonderful gift of my first new house plant.  Thank you Shannon!  The left soon after (Shannon is pregnant, and couldn't stay longer as I had NO furniture in my house upon which to rest) and I was left to reading.  I rolled out my rug, inflated my camp mattress and unfurled my sleeping bag and read in the middle of the living room floor to my heart's content.  Jamie and Senna came by later and we had a similar time, rooting through all the mysteries a new house presents. 

 

Once left to my foibles again, I read and read all through the night, with a quick stop at my friend Lloyd's house for a little backyard party.  It was awesome.  Thank you Lloyd!  Back home I read some more.  That was it, the first night in my new house, sleeping on the living room floor on my rug, reading Harry Potter 7.  A suitable transition I believe.  I then began the process of making my house mine, and ready for me to move in. 

 

Monday, July 30th Nhance Flooring came by to refinish my original 1926 top-nailed hardwoods.  This was an absolutely generous gift from my father, to whom I am extraordinarily grateful.  Thank you Dad!!!  It takes a day for the floors to dry so you can walk on them, but a week before you can move furniture onto them.  Not to worry, I was headed to Florida for a long weekend on Thursday, and the days passed quickly.  Before I knew it I was back on August 7th and ready to move in.

 

Saturday the 11th was moving day, and like I said above, it was easy and fun with the help of these awesome people:  Jamie Pinney, you rock buddy, thanks for showing up early, helping, motivating and coming back later to end the night with me.  Alex Huang, an amazing man, manager and father.  You rock too, and I am thankful to have known both Jamie and Alex for over half my life now.  Curtis Johnson and Adam Friedman showed up and showed some serious muscle and with their help we got the couch, dresser, boxes and more all moved into Attila and the other cars and were off moving before I knew it.  Thank you both my friends, you rock three.  Kelln and Lindsay showed up later at my house and kicked ass by helping me go get two huge book cases from my office (thanks to Cujo too!) and cooking the first meal in my house which was amazing, and so suitable as it was a communal meal, shared by all, and enjoyed especially by myself.  YOU ALL ROCK!

Thank you all!

 

Yesterday, the 15th of August, Jamie Minkus met me at Ikea and we consumed their brand of delightfully quirky European design like voracious beasts and I now have a bed, a table, another table, some chairs and all the kitchen good I will need.  Thank you Jamie!

 

Now the fun really begins.  All the rest of the modifications, alterations, preservations, conservations, and discoverations are ready to go.  See you all soon, back here with more updates and soon to follow PICTURES!

Despicable, corporate belligerency

In this article, Johnson & Johnson is revealed as the corporation they are, with one single thing on their minds: money.  They are suing the Red Cross for using the logo of a red cross.  And yet, like so many typical corporate mindsets, they are ultimately decreasing their profitability.  By following the law that was set up (and citied in the article above) to allow J & J to share with the Red Cross the logo they have in common more people are exposed to the corporate image, creating better product recognition!  What a shame.  And for a for-profit corporation to sue a humanitarian organization at all is just nasty and revealing.  I just can't believe someone thought this was a good idea.  I am now boycotting Johnson & Johnson.

 

Join me in expressing your disgust by boycotting their products as well.

Green Living: A Home

I decided to buy a house as soon as I had a job, and that was back in November of 2006.  Well I found one, and I made the offer the day it went on the market, days before I was to leave for France for a week.  The offer was accepted and my excellent realtor Jesse Knight made the whole deal so easy, I was a little nervous it was too good to be true.

 

We had the inspection and sewer scope done within days, and the first hitch hit:  During the inspection, under normal investigative measures a leak formed in a pipe leading to an external hose bib.  The leak was due to corroded connections between copper and steel pipes. 

 

LESSON #1 Copper and Steel plus water = corrosion.  Do NOT mix copper and steel.  If you have to, there are special connectors you must use.

 

The situation was resolved with some difficulty because the realtors of the owner were very nasty.  But resolved it was, and the sale moved forward.  On July 11th I closed and signed all the papers. 

 

On July 20th I got my keys.  Ecstatic is the only word I can think of.  I bought a beautiful gem of a small house in SE Portland built in 1926, and retaining all the charm and qualities of that era.  Location was very key to my house hunt and I believe I have the perfect location.  I am right on a great bus line (not a major line, a great line that serves a very specific area, and isn't too fast or slow), very close to two major bus lines, and walking distance to a coffee shop, co-op, New Seasons Market, The Clinton St. Theater, a Burgerville, restaurants, and much much more.  This is South East Portland at is best, and on top of all that I am 4 blocks from my capoeira studio; Capoeira Regional.

 

There are a few issues with the house that I plan on addressing as time goes on.  First and foremost is the fact that there is no exterior window in the bathroom, and it is on an exterior wall.  The tub is a cheap-o unit and may have been installed over an existing window!  I will find out soon enough.  The second issue is the vinyl siding.  The house looks like it was frosted in petro chemicals, but I have seen through the facade and the original siding is intact underneath.  Phew.

 

It is a great little house!  And it is mine!  Hooray!

Just a pretty picture

from NASA

Portland: Greener and greener

Check out this page listing the top 15 Greenest Cities in the world, and please, notice if you will number 2.

Keep it up homies, and know I'm doing my best too, and if anyone out there has any questions on how they can do better, feel free to ask away. I may not have the answers you are looking for, but I might have the resources you can use to figure it out.

A great quote

"I know the people of Washington state didn't want lawyers and judges and prosecutors arguing about little piddly details like this," Hiatt said. "Is the person sick? Yes. Are they using it with a doctor's permission? Yes. Then leave them alone." From this article.

Amazing site

Talk about science, this is amazing. Or don't talk about it and just read about it instead, since you don't know what you are talking about. Yet.

Realestate speculation: positive

Look for the neighborhoods along the dotted line to blow up. I'm talking renaissance. Property values through the roof. Milwaukie; the next N Mississippi? I found this information here from a site that aggregates blogs based on location. Pretty sweet stuff! Thanks again to Tarek for being the source of all cool information.

Ethanol

The grain required to fill a 25 gallon gas tank with ethanol would feed one person for a year. Every time you fill your tank, think about biking, walking, mass transit or just relaxing at home. Live simply so that others may live.

Ethanol is an interesting idea, and I plan to go over the pros and cons in this blog over the next few weeks, but bear with me, as I will be researching and writing at the same time so look out for corrections.
First blush must consider the corn industry in the US and it's own problems. For instance, if we stop using corn to feed animals that were never intended to eat corn because it becomes too expensive is that a bad thing? I think not. Cows put back to pasture, and Americans eating less meat? Sounds too good to be true. We'll see.

My money where my mouth is

Here's something I don't ordinarily do: ask you to donate money (no of course not to me). The only reason I would consider this is because I believe in it, and I just donated some myself.

How many posts have I written about declining species on the Green Manifesto? Well here's a chance for me and you to do something.

http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/

This site is about protecting OUR national resources, which include wild spaces and wild animals, not just oil or coal. Other resources have value, and values much harder to calculate than the cost per barrel. So if you want to find out more, click the link. This campaign is about Grey Wolves, a distinctly American animal and one I personally find incredibly beautiful and elegant. And worth protecting.

As some of my more market driven friends might say, it's not the government's job to regulate the protection of these animals, but unfortunately they are the only people with the power to regulate these animals protection or destruction. It is the government in Idaho who is legislating the ability to hunt these animals who have just recovered from the brink of extinction. So I say, let the market speak! And I have now spoken with my very own hard earned dollars!

Preserve, protect, or perish.

An Awesome Idea

http://www.freespiritspheres.com/

just follow the link, then come back here and read if you care.

This is an incredibly cool idea/form/space/habitat and I am fully in favor. It could be incredibly sustainable, or it could degrade our natural spaces just as viciously as standard development. But I don't think it will ever be like that. Because people who would consider living in this sort of space do it for one or two reasons - they love and want to connect with nature as intimately as possible, or they are plum crazy-wild and have some similar tastes to your's truly.

Let your imagination run wild as I have. A grouping of these beautiful spheres, dangling in the canopy connected by suspended walkways is incredibly compelling. Perhaps one day, we'll get to see it in action!

Additionally, these interior spaces remind me more of a sailboat interior than a house. I think my aunt and uncle would tickled by this product. Thanks for the link Jess!

Outrage

I can only say it so simply. This is outrageous, and has outraged me. Our country is a bunch of sissies and this is exactly the kind of 1st Amendment protection America is supposed to be about. Read this link about a high school senior who has been punished for following the rules and writing something honest. I am not defending his content or timing, but I will defend his rights. The shooting at Virgina Tech is a tragedy and we must do what we can to prevent such tragedies in the future, but not by sacrificing our rights.

Yet another reason to install that bunker while you still can

Have you heard about the bees? They are dying. Life forms like bees that are a crucial and obvious part of our ecosystem are key factors that we use to predict and understand the natural world. And when they start dying, we know something bad is happening. Like the fabled butterfly monsoon connection, this sort of die off is usually the precursor to greater widespread environmental degradation and danger.

I am not suggesting that you go out and buy a bunch of honey, but if you want my suggestion, go out and start a beehive! Or simply create some habitat for bees to encourage their safe growth and a long term supply of life on earth. If you need more convincing here's a great link to an article about bee ecology and how they play a role in our agricultural economy way outside of the honey in the pot.

What's more, this article above suggests something even more interesting. As species decline in number, it is the smaller populations that decrease first. This suggests that smaller niche organisms are the first to go, and that the broader and more robust organisms remain. This has been the case for eternity and is nothing to laugh at or feel remorse over. It is a rule of nature. What it implies though does give me a bit of pause. Postulate with me what could happen if the niche organisms disappear or diminish greatly? It is the loss of the extraordinarily adapted symbiotics, the bizarre plants that lure outlandish insects, the rare plant that requires feeding by even rarer ants. Do you see where this takes us? To a world of switch grass and flies. To a land of few, not plenty. Speciation is one of the gifts of our extraordinary world, and one we must not take for grated.

BioFules in the sky and Bottles in the bank!

Now this is promising news, and coming from an industry leader, and not a government regulation! Being green and saving the world has FINALLY become clear and obvious to the tipping point majority, thank you world!

On another awesome note Oregon looks like it will move ahead and increase the acclaimed Bottle Bill to include water bottles and flavored water bottles! When the bill was introduced 30 years ago it was a landmark bill that increased bottle recycling 90% (all stats are from my memory right now) and stands to do the same with the ubiquitous plastic water bottle. This could make a very big difference in the world.

Bring em home, secure the world

Living Green, and coping

If you haven't noticed, I like to use the internet, for both reading and writing. And I am amazed every day by the sheer amount of information passed through this novel portal. Today I was amazed yet again, and by two very divergent yet strangely related sites. The first was Monsters & Critics who posted a story about Cheryl Crow, a person I know very little about, on a website I know nothing about. And the second was a satire posted by my friend trav.is.

What got me about the first story was the asinine response by all the people who went to the page containing an article that reports Ms. Crow's proclamation that women should be a part of protecting the environment by reducing their use of toilet paper to the minimum of one square per visit. This makes an incredible amount of sense, is very responsible thinking and can actually have a HUGE impact on both our water systems and our paper uses. It implies that this is for going "number 1" but the page did not specify. Nearly all of the responses on the page where churlish and rude, condemning Ms. Crow for voicing her opinion. I say to the people who wasted their time, energy, and money responding so sophomoric: get your heads out of the toilets and respect a small bit of honesty. She is right. This is one of the infinite, incremental steps you can do every day, every time you go to the bathroom to make a difference. It adds up.

We are so blessed in our first world nations (those of us who do, and of whom I am guessing represent 100% of my audience now) to have plenty, to have comfort, and to have extra. And we use more than we need because most of us do not know any better. This is one very palpable lesson in using less. Good for you Ms. Crow.

And now for the second article; a satire my Mr. Trav.is on the dangers of .... water. It took me some reading and common sense, and enough desire to even care what he wrote, to decode the blather of the site mentioned in his post, and it was funny, but I hate to say it, trav.is, I didn't really enjoy the joke.

Many people have incredibly intelligent and sound ideas about free market and open capitalism, and the effect of self regulation, but I am guessing, none of those people have ever suffered through or had someone close die from exposure to a toxic chemical leaked by an unconcerned corporation. It is simple fact that we do not understand the effects of what we do and create until years later, and I believe we should be responsible for our own actions. Just because we work for a company or corporation or government does not insulate us from the effects we cause, weather inadvertently or with full knowledge. Unfortunately not everyone acts with this level of responsibility, and in the glare of the gross, net, and margin, forget everything they every learned about what is right.

Because of these facts, it is vital and necessary to regulate people.

Federal law vs. State law

Ohh boy, where to begin? I had never thought about this issue before, because I used to have faith in our federal government, but ever since the election in 2000 I have begun loosing faith.

So to the point; states, as described in the Constitution (ever heard of it?) States are supposed to have the right to make and enforce their own laws, and yet the federal government is always sticking it's nose where it doesn't belong! Here's a for instance i just read about where the federal government is preventing a woman from taking the medicine prescribed to her by her doctor! The federal government is KILLING this woman and therefore it HAS FAILED.

We are very close to the end. I am not a doomsayer but I am saying it now. We are going down quickly, all hands on board.

Barren worlds: opportunity

What will happen when we discover other worlds with no extant life? Will we be able to tell that there is not life enough to justify bringing our own? Assuming the answer to that question is yes the next steps will be just as difficult. Will we bring plant and animal species from earth to populate a barren world with life as we see fit? Will we try to copy the successful bio system established on earth or will we experiment and make a new world in our own image? This begs the question of genetically altered species being a viable solution if there is no native species to harm.

All questions, and no answers yet... but maybe soon.