Departures

2006-04-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

What does poverty and environmental degredation have in common? More than you think. Check out Grist Magazine's seven part series for a closer look.

2006-04-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

The Death of Environmentalism:
Global Warming Politics in a Post-Environmental World

By Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus
13 Jan 2005

This essay by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus was released at an October 2004 meeting of the Environmental Grantmakers Association, and it's been ruffling feathers ever since

To not think of dying is to not think of living.-- Jann Arden

Those of us who are children of the environmental movement must never forget that we are standing on the shoulders of all those who came before us.

The clean water we drink, the clean air we breathe, and the protected wilderness we treasure are all, in no small part, thanks to them. The two of us have worked for most of the country's leading environmental organizations as staff or consultants. We hold a sincere and abiding respect for our parents and elders in the environmental community. They have worked hard and accomplished a great deal. For that we are deeply grateful.

At the same time, we believe that the best way to honor their achievements is to acknowledge that modern environmentalism is no longer capable of dealing with the world's most serious ecological crisis.

Over the last 15 years environmental foundations and organizations have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into combating global warming.

We have strikingly little to show for it.

Read the full essay The Death of Environmentalism.

Fight the Good Fight

2006-04-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

Some words of truth I keep in my back pocket. As a future teacher of English, I enlist the help of Authors whose contributions to literature influence public discourse and change the way we think. I was introduced to James Baldwin's short story "Sonny's Blues" in college. I realized then how powerful good literature is, because great authors scritinize truth down to it's atomic level. Truth is subjective to a certain point; then the universe takes over and we are all held to the same everpreset truth: we as humans are not above, nor can we control the natural processes of the planet. It is ignorant to believe, as Republican Senator James Inhofe does, that Global Warming is a Hoax and needs not be adressed. Healing the Environment and reversing the effects of Global Warming are now social justice issues. The victims of government inaction will be the poorest nations on the planet. Mr. Inhofe and powerful people of his ilk (Richard Pombo, The Bush Administration, and all industries who have investments in oil, logging, and mining) are directly responsible for the havok global climate change will wreak upon the people of these nations, and they must be held accountable. James Baldwin's words speak to the situation in which we now find ourselves. In California, our energy policy is changing to incorporate all of the new forms of non-polluting energy sources we can invent. Innovation is once again invigorating the economy. Alternative Energy will be our chief export. Our state leaders are moving without the Federal Government and making them seem increasingly less important. Ignorance at the top is an enemy of justice, and its becoming as clear as the skys I hope to gaze at in the very near future.

Myspace As Political Action Network

2006-04-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

When gas prices reach $3.50 and continue to rise, something has to be done. The american public can count on the Bush Administration's inaction.

Myspace currently has close to 75 million members, most of which represent an age demographic ranging from 16-30. This is a huge interest group.

Mass communication via Myspace was proven effective earlier this year when walkouts were planned to protest the horrible immigration bill passed by the House of Representatives. The organizing was done through bulletin posts and messages which are then seen by all of a users "Friends." Half a million people marched peacefully in Los Angeles and the surrounding cities.

In response to this blatant violation of consumer rights, and with Earth day on Saturday April 22, Myspace has been circulating a plan which, at the very least, will raise some eyebrows and start a dialogue. Here is the post. Copy and post this to your own bulletin.

Left: Exxon Mobil's CEO Lee Raymond accompanied by his double chins

"GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work

This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. It ' s worth your consideration.Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read on and join with us! By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control themarketplace..... not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.Here's the idea:For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people.I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us sends it to at least ten more (30 x 10 =3D 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =3D 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers. If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE>>>>HUNDRED MILLION >>>>PEOPLE!!!Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all. (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am, so trust me on this one.)How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you?Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.THIS CAN REALLY WORK. MAKE SURE TO REPOST!!!

Watch the HBO Documentary Too Hot Not To Handle

2006-04-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Laurie David of the Natural Resources Defense Council has produced a documentary on the effects of Global Warming in the United States. The film includes commentary from leading scientists and shows how businesses, local governments and individuals are joining forces to reduce global warming pollution. The documentary will air on April 22, Earth Day and will be replayed throughout the following month. Check at the preview by clicking It's Getting Hot In Here.

Do You Live in a Cool City?

2006-04-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

Cities across America, including Seattle, Washington (pictured above) are taking initiative and getting Green. The "treehugger" tag is dead. "Green" is more than a little brother political party, its the color of a revolution. This Revolution is one of ideas. Want to find out if your city is forging ahead to combat destructive and wasteful policies? Click here to see if your city is a making any changes.

Get Literate

2006-04-18T00:30:00.000-07:00

Congress has taken a break this week. Many of your senators and representatives are in thier home states, and there is no better time to write them a letter.

Drilling provisions for the ANWR have been struck from the budget bill...again; a dozen republicans crossed over and activated thier votes to combat this atrocious legislation. But it was the Letter writing campaigns and awareness-raising activism that beat the bill. If you think your voice is weak when it comes to political influence, write a letter to your senators. They are listening.

Rep. Richard Pombo and his ilk in the House have embarassed themselves by kissing so much corporate ass, thier heads have come stuck. Now, after years of playing tonka trucks through my wilderness, things have changed.

Contact your Representative. Call your Representative's local office right now:

Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald: (310) 538-1190

Tell your Representative to:(1) oppose the Budget Resolution (House Conference Resolution 376) because of its deep cuts to environmental spending;(2) support the "Spratt (D-SC) Alternative," which would restore critical funding for our health and natural heritage;(3) oppose any attempts, including the Hensarling (D-TX) Amendment to sneak Arctic drilling into the final House budget bill.

Email Richard Pombo and tell him to bail. http://www.house.gov/pombo/ and read about his failures http://www.votepomboout.org/

April Mad Respect Award: Boards Of Canada

2006-04-16T23:19:00.000-07:00

I know we're only halfway through april, but I have to give mad respect to the Boards of Canada. Look here, I first got into this electronic band a couple years ago when my brother was shipped off to Afganistan. He sent me all of the stuff he wouldn't be needing overseas including a duffel bag full of his CDs. I spent the next few days tearing through his music collection. I wasn't ready for Boards of Canada. Backed by strolling hip hop beats, the songs float through space, delivering melancholic melodies, leaving you feeling like you just woke up from an urgent dream.

Writing about BOC's album "Twoism" on the Warp Records Website, PIC, S. Goderich, and A. Wilson said that, "The album was a breath of fresh air to those who had grown tired of the frantic and polished sci-fi studio acrobatics of jungle and drum&bass which were the predominant trends in electronic music of the time. ‘Twoism’ was a collection of spacious, gnarled and glacial tones and dissonant, melancholy melodies over sparse hip-hop beats, but with a curiously deliberate ‘broken-ness’ to the production. Every melody had been created to wobble and flutter slightly, like damaged music from an old worn-out cassette. In an era of clean, digital music, and with compact discs having largely replaced vinyl as the primary format for commercial music, this nostalgic, imperfect sound was to earn Boards of Canada huge respect as innovators in subsequent years."

The Boards of Canada have mastered the art of combinig visual media with music to create an incredibly inspirational experience. With landscapes as influences, they produce soundtracks to perfect sunsets, meandering forest paths, and with thier new video, the earth as seen from a skydiving astronaut. As BOC reveals thier sweeping soundscapes, they connect to the core of human experience and human emotion, and we are left euphoric and frozen in time.

Check out thier video "Dayvan Cowboy" on the Warp Records Website Then spend some time listening to more of thier songs at thier myspace address http://www.myspace.com/abeautifulplace .

Mad Respect.

The New Educator

2006-04-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

As far as education goes, students in the United States are trailing behind thier counterparts in other industrialized nations. The Department of Education in Washington standardized a nationwide system and called it No Child Left Behind. The system, which was met with more protest than praise, attempts to close education gaps by holding teachers accoutable for bringing low achieving students up from thier failing status to established education benchmarks . Students are assessed via a standardized test. The federal government has given each state the power to design thier own tests; every state has different educational hurdles. But by 2014, all states are required to meet a national standard.

Voices of protest came from veteran teachers who felt the new standards encroached too far into thier classrooms. It was widely thought that the art of teaching would suffer by limiting a teachers ability to excercise his creative potential in the classroom. Standards sound militaristic, machinistic, and conformist. In a world where these words describe virtually every other industry, the classroom should be a refuge--a sanctuary for developing minds. Not all students learn in the same way, so why should all students be subject to the same curriculum? Funding this massive program became problematic. In the midst of this educational overhaul, the very adminstration that touted its benefits slashed federal funding for education. One particular school disrict in New Jersey raised thier voice. How could the Bush Administration require all school disricts across the nation to conform to NCLB without providing the funds to meet the requirements? At the very least, NCLB was a tough pill to swallow.

When I graduate from the Single Subject Teaching Credential Program in English from CSULB in December, I will be one of the first generations of new teachers versed in a revolutionary new teaching approach. Due to the NCLB, teaching colleges have completely revammped how they train teachers. I feel very prepared to enter the profession armed with methods and strategies grounded in the most current research. One of the most important classes I am taking this semester trains teachers in social justice, social change, social activism, cultural consciousness, and transforming curriculums to focus on multiculturalism through the use of critical pedagogy.

I have learned that NCLB has generated many unexpected consequences, but a standards based approach to teaching may improve the quality of teachers in the long run. Standards focus instruction, and the teacher is still in control of what goes into the lesson. The teacher is still in control of the product of his craft. Standards improve how teachers manage thier time. If you want to measure the skill of a teacher, use as a measuring stick the socially relevant content, style, and finesse which teachers incorporate into thier curriculums. In this way, students will connect thier lives to the purpose of education, to the school as an institution, and realize that literacy is a tool and a weapon to increase thier lot in life.

The crisis in education as it stands now is that students are being trained to fit into a society they did not create. My goal is to teach students that they can create a society worthy of fitting in to. We need to use the national reforms to instill a sense of playfullness and respect in education--students should not be trained as corporate pawns when they have yet to explore thier emotional core, creative potential, and personal identity.

Education in California.

2006-03-31T12:27:00.000-08:00

Education, as an institution, needs to be reexamined by teachers of the 21st century. As new and informed educators, we need to think hard about the how the body of the school system is constructed. Take a microscope and look for the DNA. The Chromosomes. The very begginnings. Questions we should ask oursleves are: Under what circumstances was education in the U.S. developed? Who were the advocates? Why educate? who did we educate and what did we teach them? We should ask how kids learned in 1898 and we should ask how kids learned in 2005. We should read Paulo Friere and Enid Lee and discover the ways in which pedagogy has evolved and the strategies educators can use to reverse unequal forms of education. As we learn about education's role in creating the new generation, we will see how the cultures within the united states change and diverge, and yet education remains static. New teachers must know how to navigate the world of cyberspace and feel comfortable utilizing technology in their classrooms. More importantly, educators of the new century need to form a point of view of education which has social justice, environmental stewardship, media literacy, and mulitculturalism at its very core.

(above)
Often cited as a foundational view in critical pedagogy, Paulo Freire's work also represents the empowering political potential of the literacy campaign, particularly as it developed in Brazil.

Global Warming

2006-03-30T12:03:00.000-08:00

The most recent Time Magazine is about Polar Bears. It has been a long time since I've seen a picture of one of these animals. I don't watch T.V any more, so I rarely have a chance to turn to the Discovery Channel or The Learning Channel where one might find, if they are lucky, a documentary on the illusive animal. When I was younger, I used to subscribe to ZOOBOOKS. It was always a good day to come home from school and see a gorrilla, or a dolphin, or an elephant striding across the coffee table. The magazines were the only real connection a kid could make to the exotic wildlife in some distant locale.

The popularity of the the Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel has grown from what I had originally thought would be a massive literacy campaign to a systematic de-education campaign. It would have been nice to know that we were all wising up and are seeking information that made us use our higher order cognition skills. After a couple of months, I noticed the programming was dominated by war documentaries, gun shows, and reality based, home economic workshops that allowed people to feel good about being unemployed during the day. These bastians of supposed intellectual thought, these channels where one could escape the mind numbing crap on major stations, had evolved into a kiddie pool psuedoknowledgable programming. So much for my literacy campaign. And ZOOBOOKs are long gone.

Money dictates what stays and what goes. Corporations have interests in what people are exposed to. This should be no secret. Time and money should not be spent to probe this "Conspiracy". Just sit down for 30 seconds and watch some T.V. Turn to the discovery channel and ask yourself, "What was I discovering again?" CEOs of media conglomerates will not risk showing the public anything that will ruffle feathers with the investors. How often do you see a documentary on how the Irish were oppressed in the U.S or the violent attacks the Chinese had to endure as they mined our gold? Class conflict is not a nugget of truth the dominant culture wantyou to think about nor do they want seeping into history books. The Dominant culure, and by this I mean the White, protestant, power holders, wants to protect the status quo. They want to keep things the way they are right now. And If you have gone to school in any major urban city, your hope is that things will get better. There are people at the top who do alot to prevent social change form occuring.

So, when I first noticed the Polar bear peering into the waters in some arctic setting, I was instantly reminded of the good days when Zoology and knowledge of the animal kingdom was respected. I was happy for a brief moment. Time magazine is a fucking huge magazine. Its quality is suggestable, but it reaches the eyes of millions of people. Hooray for animals. Now, Stop. This week's Time magazine is nothing to smile about unless you are activley and happily participating in the destruction of the planet. The Polar bear, the caption told me, was stranded on an ice flow that had broken away from a larger flow, which itself had broken from a larger ice shelf. This polar bear would drown because, although prolific swimmers, Polar Bears can not swim the distance the melting ice flow had drifted away from his usual habitat. This week, Time magazine is devoted to the effects of Global Warming.

I never subscribed to Time because it was a waste of paper. It followed trends in the media, politics, science, medicine, that gave people something to read when thier lives were interrupted by bowel movements. No amount of higher order thinking is done, nor should be done, during these precious moments. Time did little to challenge the thinking of its readership. Rather, it drew a picture with words of a static scenario, much like the court appointed documentarian who sketches the characters of a courtroom--so what, we already knew there are people present in the courtroom. Its what they say, the words they use, from which a judge makes a decision. Most of our media is like this. It remains a sketch. It is safe. So as readers, we learn little except the shape of what is going on. This leaves us nice and stupid with little to use for making decisions.

James Inhofe is a Senator from Oklahoma who has called global warming a "Hoax". Richard Pombo, is a reepresentative from California who has devoted his job to destroying the environment. They are ambitiously driving the ship of misinformation and have contributed to the public's utter lack of knowledge about the effects humans wreak upon the environment. They have censured scientists, bullied dissenting voices, pursued legislation in congress that strips environmental laws from existence, and have practised cowardly methods of sneaking legislation into the budget bill or house appropriations bill in an effort to prevent the laws from being debated.

I propose that they be responsible for thier actions. I propose an investigation be launched immediately that will gather information and facts pinpointing all members in any federal administration who have actively pursued legislation that has hindered the progression of global environmental protections on all levels. Those that are indicted are criminals. They will have committed crimes against humanity. The next 50 years will see violence increase in poor countries, and these politicians will have everything to do with the consequences. Exxon Mobil should be dismantled and all of their profits should go towards 1) repaying the price the public has payed for cleaning up thier oil spill (EXXON has spent more on defending lawsuits than the cost to clean up the mess) 2) supplying poor nations with the means to sustain and support their communities through the inevitable natural disasters that will ensue 3) and provide the funds necessary to create a new energy plan based on sustainable, non polluting energy.

When Time magazine has something to say about Global Warming it means that the millions of people who will read it have brought the issue to life themselves. Publishers will only publish what people will buy. The people have spoken, and the breed of politicians that have worked so dilligantly to get rich by creating the global situation we are in deserve to shrink into the shadows of thier own infected nursing homes. They will go the way of the dinosaurs, the way of the disappearing fossil fuels they bet their whole lives on. They are not connected to the people they claim to represent anymore, and the matches need to be taken from thier hands before they start another fire and call it progress.

Lee

Welcome

2006-03-29T12:39:00.000-08:00

Before I step into the mud, I want you know my proximity to the pit. I want you to know my guiding philosophies and theories with which I am armed. I want to discuss this very thing I am doing right now--writing. Lets talk about politics, education, the environment and energy. Lets rip off layers of skin and realize that it will take more than a band aid to deal with that type of wound. Lets talk about a new way to live our lives--one that combines positive human potential with a respect for the souls of things. I want you to know where I am coming from, but not even I can tell you where I'm going.

Over the years, I have develped a lens through which I view the world. I became conscious of this lens while watching two incredibly high skyscrapers fall like burning houses of cards. I was a Sophomore in college. A wise fool. I picked up a newspaper the next day. and the next. and the next. The L.A times. I marked the day on my calender, and I told myself that from that day on I was going to open my god damn eyes. Sometimes I wish I never had. Sometimes I wish I could go back to my old Frat House and slap asses with the best of my brothers. But I can't. You can never go home again. Because now I realize a couple of very shocking realities. Like Fox News. Richard Pombo, James Inhofe, Exxon, Lobbyists, The President, Congress, Africa, Global Warming etc, etc, etc...

If you were to meet me, you would wonder where all of this furrowed brow gloom comes from. I am actually very happy. Upbeat. Chipper. Good Humored. Well Liked, and all the rest of that bullshit. But since this is a blog, I can say whatever I want. And what needs to be said is all of what you will soon read. Lets examine this life using man's greatest technology--writing itself.

hello

2006-03-13T21:32:00.000-08:00

hello