What happened to the world we knew
The one that fought when it truly mattered?
It seems as though, we let it go,
We watched it fall, surprised it shattered!
What happened to the noble causes
That stirred the people up into action?
Mere pawns now in these political games
That only serve as a distraction!
What happened to the world we knew
Built on the strength of our convictions?
Somehow it was lost along this path,
Of ignorance and contradictions!

Look around, the fever’s growing,
Right before our eyes, we see,
The chaos looming tends to linger
Suffocating all who’d be free.
Cowering, behind the curtain
As the battered truth, she flees,
Leaving us to bare witness to
The degeneration of the species!

What happened to the love we knew
That once seemed it would save us all?
It seems as though, we did not know,
That it would not be able to sustain this fall!
What happened to our humanity,
This generous trait that set us apart?
How did it easily turn to apathy,
Whose wicked chill, would still our heart?
What happened to the love we knew
That once crafted each of our desires?
Somehow it was lost within the flames
Of our anger and aggression’s pyres!

Look around, the fever’s growing,
Right before our eyes, we see,
The chaos looming tends to linger
Suffocating all who’d be free.
Cowering, behind the curtain
As the battered truth, she flees,
Leaving us to bare witness to
The degeneration of the species!

What happened to the world we knew
The one it seemed we were improving?
It seems our direction suddenly changed,
And yet, it seems, we just kept moving!
What happened to our understanding
Which we used to try and always extend?
When did the tides all turn against us,
How is it, that we allowed this end?
How’d these chapters come to define us,
After all the good that had been penned?
It’s clear we weren’t meant to end up here,
We lost ourselves…what happened?

Links from Sinead

biofilm primer!

psuedomonas!

quorum sensing!

myxococcus movies!

Open access journals!

For more of the story I read about the expansion of the warrantless wiretapping, Obama Admin quietly expands Bush’s legal defense of warrantless wiretapping.

Here is a link to the story on Palin vs. the World Wide Web.

Link from Jim
Tracking chip of death!

Links from Corey
Did all conservatives flunk history and civics?
A bit about NPR

Links from Sinead
The awesome book that I talked about during the segment on looking at ecosystems as insurance,
Can we afford the future? by Frank Ackerman

Also, here is a link to some of Dan Janzen’s Wild Garden stuff:
An article that discusses Wild Gardens
About the species in the rainforests

This rant comes to you fresh from a two day technology failure born frustration that claimed the life of what was to be the latest episode of Ask Science Dude. About two days ago, Sinead and I got our schedules, and chakras, all aligned and in order to record the latest edition of the show. We had an amazing topic, an awesome rapport and back and forth going. For over an hour we chatted and got all Science Dude-ish. The episode was brilliant. Sinead, as always, was on point, and I was actually insightful and stuff, too. Then it happened…

Fifty five minutes in to the recording, we were winding down and wrapping it up when my MacBook overheated and shut the fuck down without warning!! And just like that, the episode was lost to the aether of the binary boneyards. Gone. All of it. FUCK!!!!

What the fuck, Mac?! Seriously? You can’t test out the performance of your heat syncs and shit before you mass produce your overpriced equipment and pawn them off on the public? This shit should not be that difficult. You have done so much to get your product assembled and functioning symbiotically, but just like the Xbox’s tendencies to red ring after similar overheating issues render the gaming systems into little more than an intricately designed paperweight, you have failed to have enough foresight to properly test this one common problem area. Dammit, people!!

I know we live in a highly disposable society, but this technological shortsightedness is getting ridiculous! Perhaps it is time we started expecting more from the companies that demand so much capital for their crap. I get it. If I pay ten bucks for some little tech gizmo, I don’t expect it to be with me for the rest of my days. But, if I pay hundreds, or worse, thousands, is it too much to expect for at least two hours worth of moderate to heavy use without interruptive malfunctions? I think not!

No worries about the episode, though it will never be exactly the same, Sinead and I will be re-attempting this topic in the coming week, and I will get that out to you all as soon as I am technologically able to do so. Also, another Angry Hippies’ Podcast is nigh. Thanks for the patience, and all the love!!

…oh, and fuck you, too, Skype! I did nothing to you, and still the next morning when Sinead and I planned to give the show a second try, you wouldn’t even hold a connection for a full minute on my end! Why?!? Now that I have reloaded you on my system, Skype, you’d better step up on Wed and bring the connectivity mother fucker, or it’s on! Damn, technology!

For more of the story I read from on Feministing, check out the source, When Rape Culture Meets Abstinence-Only Sex Ed.

Here is a link to the story on Female Genital Mutilation in the US.

Here is a link to the documentary The Power of Nightmares.

Links from Jim
Is revolution brewing in America?
China calls for global currency.
PharmaWater

Check out the Flobots’ Fight with Tools site.

And don’t forget to check out the dark queen of the zine scene, Hannah Neurotica at her Ax Wound Zine Blog!