Coal; iPod

Lay off the Bottled Water

The following excerpts come from the National Geographic's Green Guide. The bottom line: water bottles are are terrible for the environment. Carry a reusable water bottle, or drink tap water. Plastic water bottles take over 1,000 years to disintegrate, and over 86% of bottles are not recycled.

Personal Health

Americans spend more than $10,000 a minute for something that is readily available for free: water. Why do we shell out from 240 to over 10,000 times more per gallon for bottled water than we do for tap water? Perhaps we've given in to the marketing and advertising hype that bottled water comes from pristine springs and lakes. Or maybe because of the taste or the perception that bottled water is better regulated, safer or purer than tap water.

However, according to government and industry estimates, about one fourth of bottled water is bottled tap water (sometimes, but not always, with additional treatment).

Environmental

Usually water is bottled in plastic packaging. Plastics are made of petroleum, a non-renewable resource that requires new fossil reserves to be extracted all the time. By choosing to drink tap water, we can conserve this valuable resource and reduce our dependence on oil. The plastic manufacturing process is also associated with toxic byproducts, such as styrene and benzene, which are released in the air and cause not only pollution, but respiratory problems and may cause cancers as well.

Most bottles will be incinerated or will end up in our already overcrowded landfills. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that about 1.5 million tons of plastic are used worldwide to make water bottles and according to the Environmental Protection Agency, plastics are the fourth largest category of municipal solid waste.

Obtaining water from an underground pipe is more energy efficient and uses far fewer natural resources than bottled water because of the transportation of bottles in trucks across the country or by ships around the globe.

Choose water in glass bottles over watter in plastic bottles.

Water Filtering Systems

At 30 to 50 cents per gallon, filtering your tap water is not only more cost effective, but it also gives you control over what chemicals or substances are removed from the water you drink. Compare this to 89 cents to more than $2 per gallon for bottled water delivery to your home and the cost and environmental benefits of an at-home water filtration system become apparent. Additionally, filtered water keeps the plastic used for bottled water out of our landfills.

Noan Chomsky vs. William F. Buckley

Making My Morning

It's too easy for a baseball manager to get thrown out of a game these days––at least according to Tim Murphy at Slate.com. Bobby Cox will soon break "John McGraw's 75 year old record of 131 career ejections," without earning it.

Cox should take a lesson from Phillip Wellmen...

The Bikini Turns 60!

Check out this slide show at Slate.com chronacling the history of the bikini. It was first doned in public in 1946, and was shunned by Americans for two decades.

The first designer, Jacques Heim, created a tiny suit called the atome. The second, Louis Reard, introduced his design on July 5, four days after the United States had begun atomic testing in the Bikini Atoll. In a rather bold marketing ploy, Reard named his creation le bikini, implying it was as momentous an invention as the new bomb.

Click here for Maxim slideshow on the bikini.

Libby and Obama

http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifI just have to take a couple of minutes to put in my two sense worth on yesterday's news. Regarding Scooter Libby, Cheyney's Chief of Staff who lied to federal prosecuters, it is disgraceful for Bush to commute his sentence. Libby's 30 month jail sentence was well within the federal guidelines and was not an "excessive" sentence as Bush claimed. He received a fair trial and got nailed. The Bush administration has been deceitful towards the American people for 6 years (i.e. reasons for going into Iraq, existence of illegal wiretapping, use of extraordinary rendition, reasons for firing attorneys general)and now that one of its gang gets caught, Bush gives him a get-out-of-jail-free cards. This is no way to ensure a healthy democracy.

On a more positive note, Obama raised $32.5 million in the second quarter. Hillary has not declared her total, but it's estimated at $27 million. While Hillary is at the front of the race, this puts Obama in a real position to win. Hillary does not have this thing locked up. Moreover, 90% of Obama's first quarter donations came from gifts of $100 or less, and he now has a total of over 258,000 donors! That is more than in the history of the U.S.!

Obama continues to connect with people and empower them to participate in the Democracy. This phenomenon does strengthen our democracy. Obama has taught a generation that power is in the citizens' hands (even if you can only donate $50) and does not rest solely in large donors' hands. He has given us a taste of what it is like to have one's opinion and money matter in politics.

Added July 5
[The last thing Bush wants is to see a high ranking White House official's picture out wearing an orange prison suit.

John Dickerson at Slate.com ,

What's astonishing is that the factors Bush relied on in commuting Libby's sentence are the same ones that the administration has aggressively sought to preclude judges from considering when imposing sentences on everyone else...

The Bush administration, however, has consistently maintained that at sentencing, judges should be precluded from thinking about precisely the sort of individual circumstances the president raised in lending a hand to Libby. Last month, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales proposed legislation that would prevent judges from relying on anything outside the federal sentencing guidelines as the basis for a sentence more lenient than the range that the guidelines provide for.

Now I hear that Bush's commutation may also remove Libby's propation!]

Sync or Swim

This is my first water ballet performance.




Check out the world champion Russian team

Born into Brothels, movie review

Born into Brothels is a compelling documentary that follows a group of Indian children who were born in the Red Light District in Calcutta. Zana Auntie, a British photographer, moves into a brothel to learn about the lives of the women working/living there but quickly realizes numerous children also live in the brothel. Zana Auntie gives each child (about a dozen total) a camera and film and sends them off to take photographs. The children become enthralled with the fun and power in taking photos, and Zana creates a photography class to channel their energy. The class becomes more sophisticated as she teaches about technique, composition, and becoming and artist. The photos are surprisingly insightful and come with deft commentary by the kids.

While the children love using the camera and selecting the best photos of each roll, Zana becomes engrossed in her pupils and searches for boarding schools willing to enroll them. She realizes that education is the only opportunity for them to escape the brothel. Many of the young girls are on the verge of being put “in the line” of prostitutes by their mothers.
If you plan to watch the movie, you may want to wait on reading the rest of this.

***

Watching Zana’s determination in advocating for the children reminds me of the work we did creating Sabu International School. Substitute civil war refugees for prostitution and turn the families African instead of Indian and you have the garden of poverty from which Sabu grew. Zana’s struggles to navigate the 3rd world bureaucracy brought me back to the corrupt government officials and the mapless mazes of paper work required to register the school, purchase land, and apply for NGO status.

The children’s faces are the same as well. They convey honest, hard working children whose natural light still shines strongly from behind their eyes. This despite having seen parents and friends murdered; despite having to flee their home on foot; and despite the meager portions of food (often only a handful of white rice after school) on which they somehow survived. These kids were no less intelligent than any other children in the world. They were mature and strong and–with education–capable of anything.

In the end, one must accept one’s limits. Just as Zana found schooling for all of the children–a tremendous feat–only to have parents remove them, we also experienced heartbreaking disappointments. After months of teaching the kids to resolve disputes without fighting and empowering the teachers to discipline students with out resorting to corporeal punishment, I came to school one day to find that the “principal” of the school had beaten two kids the afternoon before. All the teachers had pledged not to beat children, and we had multiple discussions about the long-term goal of equipping Sierra Leone’s future leaders to handle disputes non-violently*. On many occasions, parents discontinued their daughter’s education because they deemed it not worthwhile.

One of the lessons learned from Sabu is that one can clear a path towards opportunity, but individuals choose to leave that path. It is even more heart breaking when parents choices limit their children’s’ options–live removing them from the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities Zana Auntie arranged for the kids to study in boarding schools.

No matter what you think is best, or what may actually be best, you are not the parent. One must let the family make a decision. I admire how Zana did the best she could for her photography kids but knew her the limits of her role. I guess in America, those children would be taken from the parents, put into foster care, and remained in school. While I can’t imagine a good reason why those children should return to the brothel, it’s tricky coming into another culture and bringing Western ideas of right and wrong.

At Sabu, the goal was to at least give the students and families a choice. With regard to corporeal punishment, I was always careful not to tell parents how to discipline their kids at home. But at school, we showed everyone–teachers, students and parents–that it is not necessary to hit kids to keep order. While many of Zana’s students were removed from school, I’d bet that when they have children, they will value education more than their parents did.

The raw, freehand camera work of Born into Brothels conveys the immediacy of the story. It brings the viewers into the homes so that we gain a sense of Zana’s experiences and connection with the kids. It is such a treasure for her to have this documentation of her experiences. I have only praise for her extraordinary ability to connect with the students and to fundraise and advocate for them internationally. After the heartache that overwhelms much of my experiences with Guinea, Born into Brothels gives me a fresh perspective on the movie’s subject matter and on my own life.

*After asking around about the principal, we learned that he had a long-term drinking problem and had regressed to beating children in school before. I had a couple of frank discussions with him during which he was sincerely sorry and felt ashamed. One must remember that the teachers and students were refugees. All had PTSD and had suffered deep trauma from the atrocities they had survived in Sierra Leone. After all, Sabu was an opportunity to help the students, parents, and teachers.

Rep. Senator in Alabama punches a Dem. Senator in chamber

The teacher breaks up a fight during recess.
"Johnny punched me," said David.
"That's because you called me an SOB," said Johnny.
David protests, "I didn't say that. Johnny called me a bad name and I tried to walk away, but he hit me."

Put a suit and tie on them and the title of State Senator, and you have Rep. Senator Bishop and Dem. Senator Barron.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP) -- Simmering tensions in the Alabama Senate boiled over Thursday when a Republican lawmaker punched a Democratic colleague in the head before they were pulled apart.

Republican Sen. Charles Bishop said Democratic Sen. Lowell Barron called him a "son of a [expletive]."

"I responded to his comment with my right hand," Bishop said. Alabama Public Television tape captured the punch. (Watch the punch being thrown, senator's explanation )

Barron denied saying that to Bishop. He said the Jasper senator used an expletive to him and he was trying to get away when he was hit by Bishop on the side of the head near an ear. He said he had not decided if he would file charges.

After the punch, Barron went into a closed-door meeting with other Democrats. Sen. Vivian Figures went into the meeting carrying first aid supplies, but she said he was not hurt.

Bishop said he regretted throwing the punch because "that's not the way grown men solve their problems," but added that he would not immediately apologize to Barron.

The fight came on the final day of the 2007 regular session of the Legislature. Republican senators were using delaying tactics to force the Democratic leadership to bring up an election reform bill to ban transfers between political action committees.

The Senate had just taken a recess Thursday afternoon when Bishop approached the chair where Barron was sitting. Moments later, security officers and others rushed to separate the two senators.

The Senate later considered censuring Bishop and expelling him from the chamber for the remainder of the day, but Bishop said that wasn't necessary and walked out of the Capitol, saying he was going home.

"I love every one of you. Most of all I love this chamber. I'm going home, and you all have a good day," Bishop said. more>

Blitzer is a tool. Take off the gloves and have a debate that matters.

I pine for the days when a debate meant an actual debate. After the infamous Dred Scott decision (which among other things stated that blacks are not US citizens)the country drew close to a boil on the issue of slavery. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debates face-to-face as they campaigned across Illinois for the Senate seat occupied by Douglas.

According to Peter Irons in his book The People's History of the Supreme Court,

During the twenty months between the Dred Scott decision and the 1858 elections, Lincoln and Douglas spoke to hundreds of audiences in Illinois and around the country, and they discussed the case in almost every speech. The seven formal–and now famous–debates between the two senatorial candidates focused largely on the Court's ruling and its consequences for national unity, as talk of secession grew louder in the South.

I wish two candidate would have a direct debate on the prominent issues (Iraq, health care, immigration, energy) rather than always having to be so careful about their image and every word. When we see the best athletes operating at their profession, we can watch them play. We see Michael Jordan make a game winning jump shot, and we see him miss foul shots. But with politicians, any slip of the tongue will be exaggerated, and thus, we get few candid moments. I wish the final two or three presidential candidates would give multiple public debates around the country with the focus on the issues and the audience rather than the TV viewers. What's wrong with the candidates having 10-15 debates in front of thousands of people?

Just Imagine
I ache for the opportunity to see Lincoln and Douglas debate on stage with no mics and no video cameras. The only real debate in this country comes from political analysts who are trying to boost ratings. It's rude to debate heatedly with friends, family, or company. And politicians can't afford to have their mistakes broadcasted around the world. We should be able to look to the "professionals" to help us think through the issues and debate the other side directly and thoroughly. That can't happen in a two-minute statement or even in a 10 minute interview.

One difference with the slavery debate, is that people can debate it without needing special knowledge. It is a moral issue. Well, I guess the "fire breathers" would say it was primarily an economic issues as well with economic implications for the South. Anyway, it's hard to have a debate about Iraq without being an expert in middle east relations or military occupation. A debate on energy can go only so far without both parties knowing about each type of alternative energy, the energy ratios of each, the latest technology, estimates for future energy demand, and the economic implications of weening the population and economy off oil.

Wolfe Blitzer
Regardless of how complicated issues are, the media led debates, especially the recent Democratic debate, are not working. If the moderator is going to ask yes/no questions or ask candidates to raise their hands to answer, just get them to do that ahead of time and post a grid on the screen. Get the candidates talking and challenge them to answer questions. Give the candidates the floor to make their case to the American people.

You have your own show. We do not tune into debates to hear you talk.

Washington Mutual charges credit card interest before the due date

Yesterday, I called Washington Mutual to cancel my credit card. I wanted to pay the $16.98 owed on the card by June 17 and then close the account. Well, it's not that easy.

The rep said I had to pay $20.00 because I may owe more than my account shows and if $20 is too much, they will reimburse me with a check. I asked her why I had to pay more than the amount on my last bill when I had not used the card since my last bill. Without getting a straight answer, I pressed her and learned that the company charges interest by day and that the contract I signed consented to interest starting after the due date. "Well it's not after the due date, so why should I have to pay interest." She said I "may" have to pay interest as it can accrue before the due date of the bill! This really lit me up. Do your credit cards charge interest before the due date?

What's more, if I paid on the phone, she'd couldn't close the account until the payment posted. Then she told me it would cost over $14 to pay on the phone! So I had to create a username and password to access my account online. After paying it, I have to call back after the payment posts to have the account closed. After I set up the password, the password would not work. I got frustrated and quit, hoping it would work after a few hours to let it filter through the system. I am having to go through 3-4 steps to pay and close my account.

If I just pay the $16.98 and WaMu charges interest on that, then I could owe $2 or so on my next bill. Then if I pay that $2, there will already have been interest charged on that balance, and I'd owe $0.23 or so. This would go on ad infinitum until I acquiesced and paid more than I owe. At that point, WaMu has my money and will reimburse me in 3 months! If I don't like that, I can call after I cancel the card and ask for an expedited reimbursement.

I know credit card companies do all kinds of stuff like this, but this is the first time I have heard of charging interest before the due date. That forces you to over pay your balance and then rely upon the company to issue you a check. You also have to remember they were supposed to issue a check and follow up with them 3 months later if they don't send it. Such bullshit!

What I have been doing is just going online a couple of times a month and paying off my balance. That way, interest does not accrue during the month before my due date. i also have one card I keep long term with a high credit line (to improve my credit) and I switch from card to card as I get 0% offers in the mail. Usually I can get a 0% card for 12 months. If I forget to pay a bill on time, I can usually call Chase and ask them to wave the late fee. They will do this twice.

Keep extra vigilant of the credit card companies, and don't use Washington Mutual.

"A Real Man on the Moon Plan"

Bill Richardson just released this video on his energy plan. Read the previous entry about Gov. Richardson as well.

50% decrease in all US oil demand in 10 years.

Yeah, Bill. That's what I'm talking about! Finally someone speaking the truth.

Consider Bill Richardson

If you have not given Bill Richardson your attention yet, now is the time to give him a look. Jay Leno introduced him on the Tonight Show recently,

He spent 14 years in Congress, was the US Ambassador to the UN, served as the US Secretary of Energy, has negotiated with the harshest dictators around the world, is the current Governor of New Mexico and a four–time Nobel Peace Prize nominee... please welcome Democratic candidate for President, Gov. Bill Richardson!

WOW! By most metrics, he is the most qualified of all the presidential candidates. Take a look at this popular video.

Energy
Energy is one of the most important issues facing our country, and it will only get more dire of the next 4-8 years. While I am enamored with Obama, Richardson is not only more qualified, his energy policies are better.

No one in the presidential race can compete with Richardson's experience as the former Secretary of Energy. In New Mexico, he has lead the state to become "the Clean Energy State" and recently signed a law "requiring state utilities to quadruple their use of renewable energy." While Bush refuses to sign the Kyoto Treaty, N. Mexico is "on track to exceed Kyoto in the coming years."

While Richardson's record is strong, I am even more inspired by his vision for our energy future. He says, "Our goal should be bold—to reduce oil imports by 40% AND replace one quarter of liquid fuels with bio-fuels by 2025, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050."

He calls for "a national renewable portfolio standard of 30% by 2020 that will rise to 50% by 2040."

By comparison, Obama calls for "all transportation fuels sold in the U.S. [to] contain 5 percent less carbon by 2015 and 10 percent less carbon by 2020. Obama is aware of our dangerous dependence on oil, but his goals are far from "bold."

The Governor knows the energy companies and understand that they must be part of the solution. He proposes establishing "a North American Energy Council—both to assure that we are efficiently developing and transporting energy in the North American market and to leverage our combined market power."

When addressing Oil and Gas executives, he states

Government’s role – indeed its obligation-- is to provide a clear vision, strategic investment in technology development, incentives to move forward – and most importantly, legal and regulatory certainty.

You are responsible for managing incredible risk and high-dollar portfolios – you have every right to know the federal “rules of the road” as you make key investments in our energy future.

Government investment in new technologies can serve as a sparkplug for energy “invention” but it is the role of the investment community to transform those inventions to marketplace “innovations” -- and the role of the business community to move innovations from the business plan stage to true technology diffusion.

Only when government and industry work together as partners can we successfully link together all these pieces of the energy innovation chain -- pushing the nation beyond the tired divisions of “good jobs OR the environment” and moving to “even better jobs AND a clean environment.

Other bold energy comments by Richardson:

1. Our ability to drain the swamps of terrorism depends in part on our political will to change how we produce, distribute and consume energy.
2. A significant portion of the $450 billion petrodollars we export each year is most certainly funneled to fund our Jihadist enemies
3. We should not lose sight of the following: Forty-five percent of the world’s proved gas reserves are in just two countries – Russia and Iran.

Diplomacy
As humbly as possible Richardson explains his diplomacy experience. "I was often asked [by President Clinton] to negotiate directly with tough characters like Fidel Castro, North Korean generals, Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan, and Saddam Hussein. Those face-to-face talks often meant the difference between the wrongful imprisonment of American servicemen and citizens–and freedom." Oh, add to this his experience as US Ambassador to the UN. He knows how to talk with friends and enemies.

No other candidate has anywhere close to Richardson's experience. "In recognition of his efforts around the world, Bill has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Each nomination has focused on his international peace mediation, hostage rescue and his commitment to justice." His recent negotiations with North Korea have rekindled the stalled nuclear non-proliferation talks with that regime.

Governor Richardson may not have the hype that Obama and Clinton do, but he is a proven energy expert, diplomat, and executive. Take the time to consider Bill Richardson for President. www.RichardsonForPresident.com

Global Climate Change Summit 2007

You may have heard about the Global Climate Change Summit where local government leaders from over 30 large cities worldwide are meeting to discuss climate change. The summit is sponsored by C40 Cities and the Clinton Foundation among others.

This morning, I jumped to the sight after hearing about it on NPR and wondering if Charlotte representatives were attending. They aren't.

Los Angeles, U.S.– Renewable Energy Credits
I did find a list of exciting initiatives in the attending cities that can easily be replicated in the U.S. The first is the renewable energy option LA offers consumers on their electric bills. Citizens can pay an additional 20% per kilowatt to use electricity generated from renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. For a bill of $58, this would mean a $3.30 additional charge–a small fee with historic implications. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) gives each participant 2 compact florescent light bulbs (CFL). Using just 2 CFLs
saves approximately $1.39 a month in energy usage. That leaves the net cost of using green power at $1.91. $1.91 a month for using renewable energy! Every city in the US should offer this green option.

Woking, United Kingdom – De-Regulated Energy Generation
For a post fossil fuels world, we should de-centralize energy generation so that U.S. energy is created by tens of thousands of small energy generating stations rather than large power plants. Solar pannels on top of my house would constitute one such energy generating station. In the second case study, Woking, UK has created 18 small-scale renewable energy "plants," which create 524.42 kWp of photovoltaic capacity. These sites have reduced CO2 emissions by 82% and energy consumption by 52%. Moreover, Woking have saved 5.4 million pounds (English money) up to 2005. This project foreshadows a revolutionary change in energy distribution and offers a model other cities can mimic now.

Melbourne, Australia
There are many more case studies on the site, but I have to mention the solar energy project in Melbourne. The roof of Queen Victoria Market supports the largest urban solar installation in the Southern Hemisphere. With more than 1,300 photovoltaic panels, which will last for at least 30 years, the QVM will save 369 tons of greenhouse gas a year. That is equivalent to energy usage of 46 houses or 82 cars a year. While this is a small dent, I think solar energy is the real future of renewable energy.

To start, there is unlimited solar energy. The main problems with solar are our ability to capture and store the energy with sufficient efficiency and to sell panels at an affordable price. In the early days of cars, on one would have thought 45 mpg was possible. Over time, technology improved. Solar energy is not a single source solution, but putting research money and government subsidies into solar energy, just as we have put hundreds of billions of dollars in to the car industry and wars to secure oil, will drastically increase our ability to use solar energy.

Consumers take out loans for cars and spend thousands of dollars a year for gas and maintenance. Electric cars require no gas and very little maintenance (because they have few moving parts), so we can all transfer that savings into home solar panels or paying more or green tags or Renewable Energy Credits on our electric bills. Remember that your electric car can be "fueled" by energy from solar panels. Technology alone will not save us from our dependence on fossil fuels, but a Manhattan Project or Man on the Moon initiative for Green Energy is long overdue.

I hope you will take a couple of minutes to click through the Global Climate Change Summit website. It will connect you with the current green movement and give you a glimpse into your renewable future.

Iraqi leaders take two-month vacation

Can you believe the gall of Iraqi leaders to take a two-month vacation in the middle of a civil war and escalating voilence?

Meanwhile, US troupes and Iraqi civilians continue to die as both countries wait for Iraq's sectarian leaders to resolve power sharing issues. We all know political agreements, not military power, are the only method of stabilizing Iraqi, yet the leaders who would make those decisions are on vacation.

So American families have Bush telling us to give his "surge" (which is more like a tide pool ripple) a chance, while Iraqi leaders take a break. We are supposed to wait until September––when the US Congress reconvenes and Petraeus will have time to evaluate the surge––and then decide how the US change in strategy is going?

I can understand that government official need rest just like other workers, but when you are the only ones who can stabilize your country, the middle of civil war is not the time to take a nap.

Approved Labor and Environmental Rights for New Trade Deals

After my previous post today, I serendipitously found this news that the White House and Democrats have reached agreements regarding future trade deals. These new agreements will be attached to future deals to protect labor rights and environmental right, thus making the approval by Congress easier. The following is from today's New York Times:

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN

Published: May 11, 2007

WASHINGTON, May 10 — The Bush administration reached agreement on Thursday with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other Democrats to attach environmental and worker protections in several pending trade accords, clearing the way for early passage of some pacts and improving prospects for others.

The unusual agreement, which came after weeks of negotiations, would guarantee workers the right to organize, ban child labor and prohibit forced labor in trading-partner countries. It would also require trading partners to enforce environmental laws already on their books and comply with several international environmental agreements.

While the understanding was a victory for Democrats, it also represented a shrewd compromise by the White House. The agreement is the first major bipartisan economic deal to emerge since Democrats took control of Congress in January. It has immediate importance for four countries — Colombia, Panama, Peru and South Korea — that are seeking to enter into trade pacts with the United States.

But officials in Washington predicted that the agreement’s effect would go beyond those countries and could be a template for all trade deals, including a possible worldwide accord.

Administration officials are hoping that the agreement will cause many Democrats to support future trade deals. They hope that enough Democrats will join with Republicans, who generally support such measures, to make passage of the agreements probable, if only narrowly. read more

NAFTA's Effect on Immigration

Wednesday evening was pretty exciting due to two long conversations about illegal immigration in the U.S. Look for my opinion on the issue in the near future, but for now, I want to share a very interesting article I found this morning.

We all know that immigration issues involve economic policy, human rights, national security priorities, and domestic public opinion. This article does a good job of discussing the U.S.'s history of immigration and refugee policy, major factors regarding immigration, and possible solutions to salient issues.

It's pretty long, but take a look. Also, scroll to the end to read some of McBride's suggestions. It deals with immigration and asylum issues. I am also interested in how NAFTA has impacted Mexican farmers and U.S. immigration. If you can give me some insight into these issues, please comment.

The evolution of US immigration and refugee policy: public opinion, domestic politics and UNHCR by Michael J. McBride (download pdf)

Defending Extraordinary Rendition

Follow this link to an article by The Nation's Bonnie Goldstein. In it, Michael Schueler, the founder and former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, defends the Rendition Program in no uncertain terms. It's worth the time to read his opening statement at the bottom of the page. Denfending "Extraordinary Renditions."

Before You Buy a Mother's Day Card

I just read about this on The Nation's website.

In the United States, Mother's Day was originally suggested by poet and social activist Julia Ward Howe. In 1870, after witnessing the carnage of the American Civil War and the start of the Franco-Prussian War, she wrote the original Mother's Day Proclamation calling upon the women of the world to unite for peace. This "Mother's Day Proclamation" would plant the seed for what would eventually become a national holiday.

After writing the proclamation, Howe had it translated into many languages and spent the next two years of her life distributing it and speaking to women leaders all over the world. In her book Reminiscences, Howe wrote, "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone bear and know the cost?" She devoted much of the next two years to this cause, and began holding annual "Mother's Day" gatherings in Boston, Massachusetts and elsewhere.

In 1907, thirty-seven years after the proclamation was written, women's rights activist Anna Jarvis began campaigning for the establishment of a nationally observed Mother's Day holiday. And in 1914, four years after Howe's death, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother's Day as a national holiday.

Obama takes Secret Service detail

To my swarms of fans, I apologize for withholding my satiating snacks of wisdom for almost two weeks. On to Obama...

The only thing I can compare to the hype around Obama is the energy and passion surrounding Kennedy and Dr. King. I am too young to have lived with them, but they are the only public figures that have touched people so deeply and elicited such excitement? Obama has not reached this status, but he has also not reached his apogee.

While Obama could stand beside King and Kennedy one day, I hope he does not share their fate: assassination. I am glad he has received Secret Service protection and I hope this makes him more, not less, safe. If I were his wife, I'd be very concerned about his safety as a transformative public figure. Encouraging the power of each individual by redounding the attention one receives from the public back to the public
creates uncontrollable momentum. At the same time, I see Obama and is wife as part of a larger movement–bringing government back to the people–which requires them to surrender to life.

I try to remain openminded, but why do I find myself always coming back to Obama? I think it's because I don't see any of the other candidates trying to change the system, and that purpose trumps disagreements I have with Obama on some issues. Along with energy and health care, the public's loss of faith in government–national and local–is one of our biggest problems. Obama is the only candidate doing anything about it.

SC Debate lastnight

I get excited by the hype of a Presidential debate. And believe it or not, its because I enjoyed seeing the wheels of democracy moving. All the candidates take their place and have a change to present themselves.

Obama
While I went into the debate inspired and excited by Obama, his performance was bland and deflating. With Kucinich and Dravel challenging the others with anti-war, anti-nuclear mandates, Obama seemed mainstream. He seemed like a jet that needed 100 yards to take off and only had 50. He seemed stiff and bland. He didn't hit his points hard or speak with impact. He wasn't inspiring or fresh––two characteristics that have spurred his popularity. I'd even go so far as to say he didn't strike me as presidential. I have to be honest, Clinton and Edwards were much more articulate and precise with their time.

Debates tell us somethings, but not everything. Maybe not even the most important things. I trust the Obama who wrote his two books. He is honest, compassionate, culturally wise, and courageous enough to do what is right. His campaign is about revolutionizing politics and the election process as much as it is about his candidacy. Even great athletes have sub par games.

Obama needs to get specific to hang. I have heard this criticism of him, but last night made me see it on my own. This was a good learning experience for him, and I think he will be much better in the future. He also would be much better with more time to respond and answer follow up questions. He couldn't really get into a flow.

The biggest frustration for me with Obama is his support of Ethanol. He comes from Illinois and I am sure he needs to support the corn farmers. But Ethanol is a loser when it comes to alternative energy. It's energy ratio is low, and it does not change the system. He did not tell Americans that they need to change their habits. He went on about planting the trees, which is great, but didn't recover well when asked about personal changes he has made. He needs to get on track with that. If you want to change the system, tell people to take the bus or open their windows when at home.

The debate did not solidify my support for Obama. Instead it introduced me to the candidates and left me open minded about who to support.

Clinton
Hillary had the best showing of anyone. She was by far the most presidential and the clearest speaker. She was skillful, intelligent, and strong. She didn't ask for any special treatment and didn't use her femininity at all. She stood up there with the boys and rocked it.

I can understand her position of giving the president the authority to go to war but not supporting his decision to go to war. However, as Chris Matthews points out, if that is what she really was doing, then why did it take so long for her to denounce Bush's war? That doesn't add up to me, and her communications director did not answer that question. He didn't know when she first spoke out against the war.

I think Hillary would be a capable president, of course. But she may be to savvy for her own good. I believe she will get health care reform through this time. I believe she will get us out of Iraq. I believe she will continue to improve the economy. But part of me feels like she will just continue the same old politics as usual. She knows how to play the system so well that I don't see her as inclined to change it.

Edwards
Edwards impressed me by speaking clearly and decisively. He is obviously comfortable behind the podium and he answered the critiques about his big house and expensive hair cut. Yes, he has money, but he doesn't come from money. And he remembers from where he came. Bashing him for making money makes no sense. Isn't that everyone's dream? He should be praised, not criticized, for taking advantage of what makes America great: the opportunity to move up in life.

Edwards could have pressed his poverty work stronger. He doesn't have the gravitas that Richardson or even Cheney have. I worry that he comes across as "light" because of that. He is honest and connected to what it means to be human. That I don't get from Hillary.

Richardson
He was Secretary of Energy and is the Governor of New Mexico. He's been nominated for four Nobel Peace Prizes for crying out loud!

Others quote experts, but he is one. The guys is a straight shooter. I trust his judgement on immigration and how to serve as executive. He gave specific ways to address our energy crisis, and he's the only executive up there. He has a serious change of being Vice President.

Aftermath
CNN's headline was "Democrats Hammer Bush." I am glad the big news is not that Obama flopped or Clinton stole the show. I think either one of those would be accurate.

We'll se what happens next.

Please comment below. I am very interested in your take on the debate or the candidates. You can respond as "anonymous" if you would like.

Bush plays jembe on Malaria Awareness Day

I can't resist posting this. I have to give it to Bush or whoever organized this event. He goes with the flow (much better than Laura) and took right to the drum. I wish I knew who the drummers are.




Here's CNN's commentary on it. Cafferty is pretty funny.

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Painting Tip

I have spent the past week painting and would like to pass on a few tips:

1. Ventillate the room. I bought Sherwin Williams paint and opened the windows in the bedroom I was painting. On the fourth morning, I got extremely nausious and a terrible headache. My body was poisoned by the toxic fumes. Before, when I used Home Depot paint, I painted more than 4 days with less ventillation and did not get sick.

2. Paint with a partner. One can take only so much talk radio and the slow progress becomes less and less tolerable.

3. Paint the ceiling first, then the walls. When you paint the ceiling, go onto the walls a little bit. Don't just paint right up to the wall. The line of paint, more than the wall, makes the distinction between wall and ceiling. Meaning, it's ok if the line made by the ceiling paint and wall paint is not right at the connection of the wall and ceiling. This line should be on the ceiling plane, not on the wall plane. It's much easier to get a straight line on the ceiling when you paint the wall second.

4. Get a plastic drop cloth. You don't need to cover the entire floor or tape it down. Just leave it free so you can shift it as you paint around the room.

5. If you have a paint container, when you are done for the day, leave a little paint in it––enought to barely cover the bottom. This way you can just peel the paint off of it when you return the next day. If you leave to little, it won't peel off cleanly. If you leave some paint on the bottom, you may bet chips in your paint.

6. To get the best action on the brush, the 1/3 of the bristles close the base should be dry (from paint or water). If you brush gets sopped up, clean it and use a second brush.

7. You can wrap your roller in plastic wrap if you have to stop painting and you will return the next day or so. That way you don't have to clean the roller. Also, the roller hold more paint than you think, and using the plastic saves paint.

8. New switches for lights are only 59 cents. Face plates for switches and outlets are only 22 or 44 cents. If you see these that are $2-$4, then walk down the the end of the isle to find the cheap ones. They are sufficient.

Gonzo

Can you believe Gonzales is still AG? The guy lied on camera about his involvement in the firings and got absolutely hammered in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Bush is just giving the Senate the finger and saying, "You'll have to indict Gonzales, or I won't fire him."

Miracle

Tom Luckey, my uncle, sleepily walked to the bathroom in the middle of the night two years ago and silently fell over a second floor railing. His wife found him paralysed the next morning. Tom was an inspiration to all for his commitment to living every moment with brio.

After many, many months of therapy, community support and tremendous courage, he has begun to regain movement in two and then four fingers. Last week, his sister posted this video. Tom still lives with unbridled enthusiasm, and he awakens the deep courage we all posesses.

see more videos of Tom here.

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American Colonists killed similarly to African rebels

I have begun reading A People's History of the Supreme Court by Peter Irons to gain a broad legal understanding and to fill in some holes in my knowledge of U.S. history.

Irons begins by discussing the painful ironies of the founders and our Constitution.

Ironically, the colonists who had deprived most of the population––religious dissenters, women, slaves, and Indians––of legal rights and voices in governance based their Declaration of Independence on pious claims that "all men are created equal" and that governments must derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed."

The vastness of this injustice alone defies comprehension.

While America cannot erase its bloody history of intolerance, we, the citizens, must keep in the forefront of our minds the fact that it took two centuries for our laws to match the "unalienable rights" professed in the constitution. While we must demand human rights world-wide, leaders and advocates must respect the role time plays when changing laws and cultural practices. i.e. Iraq cannot transform from authoritarianism to participatory democracy in a few years. Africans are no more brutal than Westerners; we burned "witches," hung religious dissidents, and condoned slavery just a few generations ago.

Reading the following account drew up images of rebels in Sierra Leone or Rwandan warlords massacring villages of woman and children:

Conflicts with the Pequot Indians of southern New England simmered until 1636, when the murder of a white trader accused of kidnapping the Indians led Governor Winthrop to give his troops a "commission to put to death" the Indian men of Block Island and to seize "some of their children as hostages" for the surrender of the murderers.

The Puritan soldiers not only killed the Pequot men of Block Island but went up and down the coast of Long Island Sound, burning villages and crops. Winthrop's military commander, Captain John Mason, decided to avoid facing Pequot warriors in open combat and instead to burn all the villages and massacre those who could not escape.

William Bradford, former governor of the colony, celebrated the results in these words: "Those that scaped the fire were slaine with the sword; some hewed to peeces, others rune throw with their rapiers, so as they were quickly dispatchte, and very few escaped. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sigh to see them thus frying in the fyer, and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stincke and sente there of, but the victory seemed a sweete sacrifice, and they gave the prayers thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfuly for them, thus to inclose their enemise in their hands, and give them so speedy a victory over so proud and insulting and enemie."

Speedy victory over unarmed villagers? Among all the talk of spreading democracy and expecting peaceful democractic revolutions, remember how our democracy was founded. Genocide. Slavery. And the powerful elite forcing the masses to conform.

MC Rove

This turns from sick to ridiculous. I have rarely seen someone embarrass himself so thoroughly.



The video is from the annual Correspondents' Dinner–the one Colbert did last year. Note that when FoxNews showed the video, they cut the part where Rove says he ripps heads off of small animals.

Math Makes Pizza Better

So the other day, I made one of the dumbest decisions of my life. My wife and I are at a pizzeria, and I notice the price of a 8" pizza is 1/2 the price of a 14" pizza. I brilliantly suggest we get two 8" pizzas because we'll get more for our money. Why is this not true?

Math Review
Remember that the area of a circle is πr(squared)

The area of the 8" pizza is: π x 4(squared) π x 16 16π 50.24

The area of the 14" pizza is: π x 7.5(squared) π x 56.25 56.25π 176.625

So the 8" pizza is 50.24 square inches of food
and the 14" pizza is 176.625 square inches of food.
The 14" gives you three and a half times as much food!

Hopefully you won't make the same mistake I did.

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Obama's Pastor Blasts NY Times

I meant to post this last week. My friends at BrainShrub turned me on to this.

March 11, 2007
Jodi Kantor
The New York Times
9 West 43rd Street
New York,
New York 10036-3959

Dear Jodi:

Thank you for engaging in one of the biggest misrepresentations of the truth I have ever seen in sixty-five years. You sat and shared with me for two hours. You told me you were doing a "Spiritual Biography" of Senator Barack Obama. For two hours, I shared with you how I thought he was the most principled individual in public service that I have ever met.

For two hours, I talked with you about how idealistic he was. For two hours I shared with you what a genuine human being he was. I told you how incredible he was as a man who was an African American in public service, and as a man who refused to announce his candidacy for President until Carol Moseley Braun indicated one way or the other whether or not she was going to run. I told you what a dreamer he was. I told you how idealistic he was. We talked about how refreshing it would be for someone who knew about Islam to be in the Oval Office. Your own question to me was, Didn't I think it would be incredible to have somebody in the Oval Office who not only knew about Muslims, but had living and breathing Muslims in his own family?

I told you how important it would be to have a man who not only knew the difference between Shiites and Sunnis prior to 9/11/01 in the Oval Office, but also how important it would be to have a man who knew what Sufism was; a man who understood that there were different branches of Judaism; a man who knew the difference between Hasidic Jews, Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews and Reformed Jews; and a man who was a devout Christian, but who did not prejudge others because they believed something other than what he believed.

I talked about how rare it was to meet a man whose Christianity was not just "in word only."

I talked about Barack being a person who lived his faith and did not argue his faith. I talked about Barack as a person who did not draw doctrinal lines in the sand nor consign other people to hell if they did not believe what he believed.

Out of a two-hour conversation with you about Barack's spiritual journey and my protesting to you that I had not shaped him nor formed him, that I had not mentored him or made him the man he was, even though I would love to take that credit, you did not print any of that. When I told you, using one of your own Jewish stories from the Hebrew Bible as to how God asked Moses, "What is that in your hand?," that Barack was like that when I met him. Barack had it "in his hand." Barack had in his grasp a uniqueness in terms of his spiritual development that one is hard put to find in the 21st century, and you did not print that.

As I was just starting to say a moment ago, Jodi, out of two hours of conversation I spent approximately five to seven minutes on...

... Barack's taking advice from one of his trusted campaign people and deeming it unwise to make me the media spotlight on the day of his announcing his candidacy for the Presidency and what do you print?

You and your editor proceeded to present to the general public a snippet, a printed "sound byte" and a titillating and tantalizing article about his disinviting me to the Invocation on the day of his announcing his candidacy.

I have never been exposed to that kind of duplicitous behavior before, and I want to write you publicly to let you know that I do not approve of it and will not be party to any further smearing of the name, the reputation, the integrity or the character of perhaps this nation's first (and maybe even only) honest candidate offering himself for public service as the person to occupy the Oval Office.

Your editor is a sensationalist. For you to even mention that makes me doubt your credibility, and I am looking forward to see how you are going to butcher what else I had to say concerning Senator Obama's "Spiritual Biography."

Our Conference Minister, the Reverend Jane Fisler Hoffman, a white woman who belongs to a Black church that Hannity of "Hannity and Colmes" is trying to trash, set the record straight for you in terms of who I am and in terms of who we are as the church to which Barack has belonged for over twenty years.

The president of our denomination, the Reverend John Thomas, has offered to try to help you clarify in your confused head what Trinity Church is even though you spent the entire weekend with us setting me up to interview me for what turned out to be a smear of the Senator; and yet The New York Times continues to roll on making the truth what it wants to be the truth.

I do not remember reading in your article that Barack had apologized for listening to that bad information and bad advice. Did I miss it? Or did your editor cut it out? Either way, you do not have to worry about hearing anything else from me for you to edit or "spin" because you are more interested in journalism than in truth.

Forgive me for having a momentary lapse. I forgot that The New York Times was leading the bandwagon in trumpeting why it is we should have gone into an illegal war. The New York Times became George Bush and the Republican Party's national "blog." The New York Times played a role in the outing of Valerie Plame. I do not know why I thought The New York Times had actually repented and was going to exhibit a different kind of behavior. Maybe it was my faith in the Jewish Holy Day of Roshashana. Maybe it was my being caught up in the euphoria of the Season of Lent; but whatever it is or was, I was sadly mistaken. There is no repentance on the part of The New York Times. There is no integrity when it comes to The Times. You should do well with that paper, Jodi. You looked me straight in my face and told me a lie!

Sincerely and respectfully yours,
Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. ,
Senior Pastor
Trinity United Church of Christ

1984: Two great videos

I hope you have watched the 1984 YouTube video portraying Hillary Clinton as Big Sister. If you haven't, watch it now.

Clinton 1984 Review
On Slates political gabfest today, John, Emily (my favorite), and David have an interesting conversation about the piece. They agreed that it really strikes at the heart of what is so annoying about Sen. Clinton: her calculating nature. She is such a juggernaut during this campaign that even Tom Delay said he thinks she'll win.*

John Dickerson asked if the video would smack of sexism to women who are sensitive to the double standards constantly applied to women. David Plotts made a great point, which was that the Obama/ Clinton showdown is reminiscent of the Apple/ Microsoft competition. Obama is the fresh and creative Apple to Clinton's establishment position.

Another note about the video. It was made by the employee of the company, which hosts Obama's website. The creator did not have anything to do with the Obama campaign or any work the company did for Obama. He was fired from the company.

I think it's an ingenious video. ParkRidge47 used video from Hillaries website and turned it around on her to be a liability. I don't remember the 1984 Apple commercial, but using it claims the spirit the average user as a person, not a programmer. Also, replay the part when the woman throws the hammer (0:50), and you will see she is wearing an iPod attached to those eighties shorts. I missed that the first few times and haven't heard anyone mention that.

The other 1984 Video
I once heard a word for things that one comes across when searching for something else (i.e. like the word sternutation when I looked up stentorian). Well, I found this jewel when I searched for the 1984 Clinton video. It's a demonstration of the first Macintosh by Steve Jobbs. You have to watch this.

Please leave a comment after you watch it. You can leave an "anonymous" comment if you want.

* He said this on Hard Ball with Chris Matthews. He used this as evidence of why conservatives needs to stop mousing around and find a real conservative candidate.

Dieu est grand

Yesterday, a close friend told me he is getting divorced. He and his wife love one another tremendously, but other life events are forcing the separation.

This news reinforces the importance of remaining vigilant with our marriages and relationships. Even good intentions between two honest people do not equal a life together. Being open with one's partner and compassionate in conversations does not guarantee all dilemmas, or even the more important ones, will be resolved.

Just as humbling as getting married is the realization that the endurance of our relationships is not entirely in our control. Life throws some nasty curve balls. Regular and sincere communication keeps our eyes on the ball, but we can still swing and miss.

Spiritual advancement is the reason why we are temporarily on Earth. Sometimes moving forward requires heartbreaking decisions, sometimes it requires giving up freedoms. Our role is to handle each situation with our highest consciousness. The rest is out of our hands.

Dieu est grand.

Gore to testify before Congress

On March 21, Al Gore "will testify before Congress on the immediate action that needs to be taken to end the climate crisis."

Learn more about this event at his website. You can also sign a petition to show your support of his global warming campaign. Please take a second to sign the petition.

If you have not seen An Inconvenient Truth, rent it or buy it.

The Charlotte Philharmonic: It's not the Symphony

My wife and I used two free tickets to attend Charlotte's newest orchestra last night: The Charlotte Philharmonic. After the abysmal evening, I'd discourage anyone from purchasing a $30 ticket or even accepting a free ticket.

We wasted 15 minutes trying to find parking, and arrived just before the second piece. I was happy to see the new CPCC auditorium filled to capacity, and the orchestra's first bars pleasantly overwhelmed me. The strings' warmth spread a wave of pleasure over me, and I quickly understood why so many people support live classical music.

Shortly into the piano concerto, a dissonance pricked my ear. I am not a classical music aficionado, so I thought maybe I heard it wrongly or that it was intentional. Then I heard a few more. In a slow movement, the horns bumbled their soft entrance. The oboe/cello duet delivered another atonal surprise. Then, when the Concert Master, of all people, hit an errant note during her solo, I knew my ears were not the problem.

The most aggravating part came when the snare drum kept a steady cadence of eighth notes but the symphony played just slightly ahead of the beat (for about10 minutes). I think this problem was the fault of the hall's acoustics not the symphony. Perhaps the sound from the front of the stage (symphony) reached my ears before the sound from the back of the stage (snare). This could be the fault of the conductor who should have placed the snare in a different location. Whatever the cause, the effect drove us to leave. That and the fact that it was 10pm and we were only halfway through the second half of the program.

Unfortunately, we missed the medley of James Bond themes.

I don't want to be a cultural snob. But as an artist and appreciator of good art, bad art just plain hurts. Especially in music. You can leave the presence of a bad painting by turning away, but at a concerto, one just has to endure.

Yesterday afternoon before the concert, someone told me the Philharmonic is "ghastly" and a waste of time. This comment struck me as brash and arrogant, but now––unfortunately––I can't help but agree.

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Hans Blix – from the horse's mouth

Last night, my father and I went to the History Museum to head Hans Blix speak. He was appointed by Kofi Annan as head of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission in 2000 after serving as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1981-1997.

His bio reads

As the world urged Saddam Hussein to disarm, Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix and his team–through on-site inspections–tried to determine if the Iraqi leader was complying. While the U.S. an dits allies pushed for justification for military action in iraq, and key opponents on the U.N. Security Council called for further inspections, Dr. Blix stood between the two, trying to fairly and impartially determine the true scope of iraq's weapons program.

Nuclear Disarmament
Dr. Blix spoke about Iraqi, but the thrust of his lecture asserted that nuclear disarmament is a realistic goal. It is possible for a couple of reasons:

1. Countries are more interdependent than ever
2. The world has seen the risk of incorrect intelligence
3. War is terribly expensive
4. There is no threat of war among world superpowers

In order to achieve nuclear disarmament, he asserts, the world must do the following:

1. Assure nations' security so that they do not feel threatened. When the U.S. says "All options are on the table," countries like N. Korea feel they must prepare themselves for "all options." Thus, they determine a need for nuclear weapons for self defense.
2. Leave regime change to local populations. While we may abhor N. Korea's authoritarian control on its people, it is up to the people to revolt. The threat of invasion makes nations feel insecure. The Republic of Guinea is an example of a country who has recently seen the people demand a change in government leadership.
3. Make rogue states a part of the international community rather than alienating them. He cited Vietnam and China as governments who kept their communism, but developed and became a part of the global community.

Most Interesting Points
I am trying to keep this short, so I'll discuss four of his most interesting points.

• He said before the U.S. invaded, International Community know the document illustrating Iraqi's effort to import Uranium from Nigeria was a forgery. He said this was "common knowledge."


• Dr. Blix described Iraqi as open and cooperative with the U.N. Weapons Inspectors. He said that the inspectors encountered no opposition from the Iraqi's. They visited 36 sites and would have seen all of them if the U.S. had not invaded pre-emptively.
  
  In the U.S., the rhetoric from the Bush Administration told us that Iraq was continuing to play games with the U.N. and give weapons inspectors the run around. The point was that the world had put up with Saddam's shenanigans for too long and the U.N. didn't have the teeth to dead with Iraq.


• Bush's 2002 doctrine of pre-emptive attack directly countered international law and broke 100 years of work to establish rule governing international relations. It undermined the aim of international bodies from the League of Nations to the United Nations. By attacking when one thinks there will be an attack, one depends on accurate intelligence. How can the U.S. tell India not to pre-emptively strike Pakistan when it feels threatened? If all countries adapted this doctrine, we'd have international chaos.


• There were absolutely no WMD's. Iraq disarmed its chemical and biological weapons programs in 1991, and there was not time for Iraq to evacuate weapons to Syria.

Dr. Blix was solid and inspiring. His life's work has been to control and reverse nuclear proliferation. Hearing him speak just reiterated the list of disastrous and unforgivable choices the Bush Administration has made.

Congratulations!

This post is dedicated to Kendra Cover, who is a good friend to many of us. Kendra is not only a dancer, Nia instructor, and inspiring friend, she is a rising actress.

She left the East Coast only 3 years ago to pursue an acting career in L.A., and within two weeks, I have seen her on T.V. twice. The first time came on a Verizon commercial, and on Tuesday she appeared on House–yes, the Fox program.

She looked like just like Kendra,* and I don't even know what she said or if she did a good job because I kept jumping and yelling, "That's Kendra, That's Kendra."

Kendra reminds me that I can "go for it" and live as a healthy spiritual person.


(*She had her hair fixed into two short pigtails pointing down to the sites just like she'd wear it in rehearsal, which leads me to think she came up with style for her character and the producer said, "Yeah, that looks good.")

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Weightlifting: Not Just for Meatheads

I've been pumping iron since the New Year to improve my life in the fitness department––and it's working. Amazingly, I've gained thirteen pounds of pure muscle, boosting the measure of my gravitational force to 168 Earth pounds (179 on Saturn).

The great thing about being male and thirty is that I am old enough to gain weight and young enough to see rapid body changes. I may not ever be a bona fide beefcake, but I am getting stronger and practicing discipline. There are other concomitant benefits.

A NASA Cassini-Huygens spacecraft's photo of Saturn

I am breaking through the description my father gave of me during college, "You have the body of an academic." It was true, and I have to make some progress now before the black hole of of school swallows my free time next fall.

Speaking of Adonises, two of Saturn's moons are Titan and Atlas. Follow these links (link1 and link2) this to see some of the most beautiful images you have ever seen. How can something be so beautiful? What makes it so? There is something ineffable amongst the colors and shapes that captivates my imagination. The photos were taken just weeks ago!

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Welcome

Welcome everybody. Take a look around using the archives, labels, or scroll bar.

The Miraculous Honeybee – In Crisis

"One third of everything that reaches the American table owes a debt to the honey bee," according to The Honeybee Project.

Bees are much more than honey makers: They pollinate. I recently learned of the Honeybee Project and will quote from its website for the rest of this article.

Few people are aware of the vast importance of the honeybee to our everyday lives. While most think of honey, it is estimated that thirty-three percent of everything that reaches the American table owes a debt to the honeybee. Over 90 fruits and vegetables including apples, melons, nut crops, cherries, berries, avocados plus alfalfa and clover seed for cattle feed are dependent upon honeybee pollination. The economic importance in North Carolina alone is $80 million and the national economic impact closer to $15 billion.

Honeybees in Crisis

During the past twenty years, populations have declined worldwide with U.S. populations declining by approximately fifty percent. Imported and pesticide-resistant pests, shrinking habitat, and diseases have devastated the honeybee despite the best efforts of beekeepers. Farmers that have traditionally relied on both wild and domestic honeybees to pollinate orchards and fields are now dependent on the managed hives of beekeepers to successfully pollinate their crops.

Collony Collapse Syndrome
Moreover, researches, beekeepers, and farmers are currently in shock by the unexplained disappearance of millions of bees colonies. "We have seen a lot of things happen in 40 years, but this is the epitome of it all," Dave Hackenberg, of Lewisburg-based Hackenberg Apiaries says. Apparently, this disorder affects the immune system of bees and kills practically the whole colony.

Normally beekeepers would find dead bees on the ground around, as worker bees carry their dead companions outside the hive. But with CCD, no bees are to be found. They just disappear. Another confounding aspect of of CCD is that the affected colonies are not over taken by other colonies. Normally larger colonies takeover dying colonies.




More on CCD
Podcast from Penn State


Quick Links
Interesting Honeybee Facts
B-Eye
Enter the Hive

Make a Difference
Please support honeybees by making a donation to The Honeybee Project. Your support will increase awareness of honeybees in children. Debra Roberts, the founder, is a good friend and an all around amazing being in this world.

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Internet Dependence

You may need to sit down for this news.

For the past two days, I have lived WITHOUT AN INTERNET CONNECTION! While this little problem started as an annoyance, I pulled a John Kerry and didn't deal with it swiftly. Consequently, I had much bigger problems on hand.

• Mom thought I was rudely ignoring her request to take her to the airport


• I could not work on a website project on deadline


• I could not read the news (I go online rather than paying for a paper


• I could not chat with my wife at lunch


• I could not check the status of my financial aid applications
  
  And worst of all...
  
  
• I couldn't find the number for Charter's tech support

I called my grandfather and ended up trying to explain to him how constricted I was without the Internet. I am not sure if he realized the gravity of the situation.

This morning, my connection miraculously appeared. I have a "bunker kit" for a Bird Flu outbreak or terrorist attack, but am unprepared for an Internet blackout.

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