23 posts tagged “ecology”
Currently my bike is my only vehicle, but I kept breaking spokes in the rear wheel due to the stress of carrying stuff besides myself. Apparently the wheel was built for the bare minimum of stress -- hence the bicycle's affordability. Anyway, my bike mechanic suggested I get a new, heavier duty wheel so I ordered one made -- it came today, they installed it, and wow! There's a huge difference in feel, even unloaded. It rolls more smoothly and really does seem more durable. A great investment! So my vehicle "repair" bill was only..... $114 for parts and labor, much better than a car! Here's the pony loaded up with groceries, I have no fear of being stranded now. I'm on my way home...
This is May's pile of unavoidable junkmail. It weighs10 lbs. That makes a total of 43 lbs forced on me so far this year, without choice. I have opted out in every way possible, but this is the volume of dead trees I am still forced to receive.
In Okayama, Japan, there's a new pedal-powered roller coaster.(!?) Here are some pics. It looks like it might be (#1) hard to pedal up the uphill parts, but also (#2) not that safe on the downhill parts! There isn't much of a cage around you, and if you look at picture no. 3, all you get is a little, teeny woven seatbelt -- not a big bar across your lap. It might be worth it to make people put in effort first, in order to get their thrill, but jeez... You might even say it defeats the whole purpose of an amusement park, which is where people get to be mindless and wasteful for fun.
Think of how farmers must favor peace, harmony and stability for their crops and livestock to thrive... These two Lebanese men are raising money for their agricultural ventures in southern Lebanon. Loaning one or the other or both, $25 each, would really help a lot. It's awesome that peaceful activities like this are occurring in such a world hotspot -- we need more farmers on the front lines!!
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They have until the end of May to reach their requested loan amount, or they will not be lent the money. Mhamed needs the most money soon. If you're interested in supporting them, join Kiva and lend just $25. Mhamed's page is here, Houssein's page is here. When your loan is paid back you can reclaim your money or loan it again to another enterprising entrepreneur. Thanks!
P.S. The farmer raising goats in Gaza *did* reach his goal and has received his loan. Yay!!
Part of our planet looks like a sponge, huh?
A drill pad built on top of fragile wetlands probes for new oil reserves. Modernization is occurring, but Soviet-era spills have contaminated much of the region.
I watched End of Suburbia again last night, what a true film. Then just now, I discovered a webpage which has me distressed. The disease of suburbia is still spreading, we have to stop it! Look at this ad from Ecuador, for suburban real estate. NO ONE needs a 4,000 sf house. That's practically a K-Mart. US families of four used to live comfortably in 1,200 sf, often less, but well connected to community -OR- in agricultural settings.
Let me correct myself. Large family-communities like the Amish can use 4,000 sf, for 11 or more kids who do farm labor. But a regular modern family? It's ridiculous. And get this people, it ONLY FEEDS THE MAN, and leaves you eventually with a polluted, destroyed space, for what? A temporary fantasy of being regal Gods, each with our own palace and spacious surrounds, and no need to share with your neighbor or ask them for anything? It's a friggin GAME!! A 4,000 sf fantasy that chews up rainforest, disconnects people, and RELIES on automobiles and oil is crazy.
Look, nobody wants anybody to live in squalor, or worse. But we need each other. And you being lured by the "pusher" to buy into a friggin' palace fantasy in the woods somewhere, paved to and from, jeopardizes *my* future and everyone else's!
This must stop. Help me by speaking out. Watch End of Suburbia again for yourselves.
Important news and footage from the Polar Defense Project. These kayakers are blogging every day now on what they are finding in the Arctic Sea -- ice so broken up they think they'll be able to reach the North Pole, something they should not be able to do. Take a look. For more information, see the Polar Defense Project's website.
Anyone who knows me knows I have this thing for chickens. And this new children's book, Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken, due to be released on September 23rd, seems right up my alley! I hope this redeems chickenkind for good!
She longed for adventure.
So she left her home and ventured out into the wide world.
The pleasures and perils she met proved plentiful: marauding pirates on the majestic seas, a ferocious lion under the bright lights of the big top, a mysterious stranger in an exotic and bustling bazaar.
Yet in the face of such daunting danger . . .
She was brave. She was fearless. She was feathered. She was a chicken. A not-so-chicken chicken. Her name? Louise!
I've been trying to figure out how to describe all my interests in one "ball," and I landed on the concept of "social ecology." By social ecology I mean our connection with each other, not only the planet, and how we do or don't sustain all aspects of ourselves -- physical, emotional, soulful/spiritual, mental/intellectual, and social/interactional.
- I'm obviously interested in agriculture and livestock, which is where earth ecology meets humans.
- I'm also interested in abuse and trauma, how it happens, what the results are, and how to heal.
- I'm also interested in psychohistory and how the dynamics in our collective emotions have shaped our history.
- There are spiritual questions under everything.
- And then there's this desire to explore, to see, to experience things on my own, outside my normal bubble.
Throw it all in the pot and you have something like social ecology!
But if you Google "social ecology" the first thing that comes up is Wikipedia saying it's actually called "human ecology," and that it's studied and discussed in a handful of universities. So I went to some of the universities' websites and I was alternatively excited and dismayed by what I found. Several schools appear to have "consumer studies" and "industry studies" inside those departments. It felt like (in some cases not all) that these departments were the seedbed of where studies are done to manipulate the psychology of consumers in order to benefit industry.
And since I have HUGE issues with the educational system in our country, and since this is the time of year a lot of those issues get awakened because school is starting again, it made me wonder about something called "educational ecology," and whether something like that even exists.
Do we consider how educational systems may, or may not, be sustaining our lives -- or whether those systems may be in a state of degradation but that we are blind and in denial about the damage? Do our educational systems "feed" and "nourish" us (like good and healthy food) without harming the larger environment? Or is there now a lot of junk, radiation, and cloning in the system, so that the educational products "look good," but actually don't nourish us or in some cases may harm both us and the larger community?
Mega mono-farms produce a lot of food -- but the food is less healthy, the farming method both degrades the land and strips small family farmers of their livelihoods, and people in general become more amnesiac and disconnected from the earth. Rarely do people think about the consequences of buying canteloupe shipped from South Africa in February -- they just blindly buy it and say "oh goody!"
And I wonder if the same isn't also true for school systems. I've said for many years that at least when you work for a living you do the work and you get paid -- there's an honest exchange of work for money. But when you go to college you do all the work -AND- you give them all your money!! And colleges/universities never have to be accountable to students. Professors have tenure, and it's too bad if there's an abusive one who teaches a required course, students have to suffer through -and pay- if they want the end result -- a piece of paper that is marketed as "gold." Forget about the actual "education," the paper is what matters. Just like forget about the nutritive value of your food or the degradation of the land, a cheap supply of empty calories year round, pandered to the whim of manufactured taste (I *must* have strawberries in December, waaa!), is what matters.
Incredible news! From Slow Food
On July 30th Los Angeles City Council approved a yearlong ban on new fast food restaurants opening in South LA, the city’s poorest area where the concentration of fast food restaurants is the highest and obesity levels are above average.
The LA city council voted unanimously for the 12 month long moratorium - thought to be the first of its kind established by a major city in defense of public health – with the intention of encouraging the growth of healthier restaurants in the area.
Figures from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health have shown that thirty per cent of adults in South Los Angeles area are obese, compared with 19.1 per cent in the metropolitan area and 14.1 per cent in the affluent Westside.
The city mayor is still to sign the action into law, but once endorsed chains such as McDonald's will not be granted permission to open in this area of the city for one year. A report conducted by the Community Health Councils revealed that 73 per cent of restaurants in South Los Angeles are fast -food establishments compared with 42 per cent in West Los Angeles.
Representatives of major fast-food chain have stated they are in agreement with promoting better diets, but feel they are being unfairly targeted by this ban. They claim that healthier options have now been included on their menus.
The ban comes at a time when governments worldwide are considering restaurant menus as a public health matter much more. The California Restaurant Association and its members are currently debating whether to legally challenge the moratorium.
At a regional level, California became the first U.S state to ban trans fats from restaurants last Friday - deemed as lowering levels of good cholesterol and increasing bad cholesterol.
