"Marginally Employed" in My Parents' Attic

Spring is here!

2010-03-24T11:33:00.003-04:00

Hello again.

I just wanted to share with you my Sunflower plant. I got some free seeds from the flower farm and a free pot from the owner and now can grow sunflower seeds.

Good thing they're edible cause this being unemployed thing makes me hungry. And with my sunflower seeds maybe I can find sunflower recipes and post them on the recipe site.

In U.S. Navy news, I was supposed to leave for OCS this weekend, but I've been delayed until August. Hopefully the U.S. Census Bureau will hire me to be an enumerator and walk about ym neighborhood counting the citizens.

Nice job if you can get it: serving the country, getting some exercise, and making some extra income (or just income at all).

I hope to upload photos of the plant as it continues to grow.

Thanks for reading and best regards,

Alya

Phonetic Alphabet

2010-03-04T08:57:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a while I've been preparing to go to OCS.

In my studying before leaving I have to learn the Phonetic Alphabet. You know, A-Alpha, B-Bravo, C-Charlie, etc. In doing so I discovered that in the phonetic alphabet only Q and X are not phonetically represented by their own letter. The words begin with that letter (Quebec, X-ray), but the pronunciation does not (kay-bek, ecks-ray). Does this mean these letters are completely superfluous seeing as how other letters or letter combinations could replace them? Many languages remove the letters they find useless. Or, as in French, reserve letters for special sounds (the C replaces the hard K sound or is used with H for a CH sound, and the K is almost never used).

Your thoughts are welcome, which is what makes this blog so interactive.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Snow

2010-02-16T14:29:00.004-05:00

Third snowstorm of the year, just wanted to share how beautiful it is here with all of you.

Isn't it just lovely.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

U. S. Navy

2010-02-12T11:29:00.004-05:00

I have FINALLY heard a reply from the U.S. Navy, and have been professionally recommended to attend Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. Luckily I reran my fitness test and did it in 13 minutes! That is so exciting for me you really have no idea. In high school I did a mile in 14:30 and NOW I can run a mile and a half in 13 minutes.

YAY! Serious sense of accomplishment there.

More photos from my trip to the beach. This one is what I've had as my desktop background for a while.

Also, I'm going to NYC this weekend, and hopefully going to find some time to visit the U.S.S. Intrepid Air Sea and Space Museum. I know, you're all super jealous.

;)

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

The Waiting Game

2010-02-02T12:55:00.005-05:00

Sorry! Haven't updated in a while. I've been busy looking for jobs and learning how to drive and writing and making up recipes. And taking photographs. This photograph is of ICE!

Additionally, for all those who wonder, I still haven't heard from the U.S. Navy in regards to my officer candidate status. This is not a big deal because I was told it would take some time.

HOWEVER, I did apply to be a U.S. Census Enumerator in the off chance that either #1 I don't get into the Navy, or #2 There's more waiting in between now and OCS. It's a great way to serve my country and carry out the constitution, really. Article 1, Section 2 clearly defines the rules of the U.S. Census and I would be honored to be a part of that. Wouldn't you?

For anyone who wants some extra cash, the U.S. Census and the Department of Commerce are hiring people from all neighborhoods at $16-24 an hour, to help track down those people who haven't filled out their census cards. Don't worry if you haven't because they haven't been sent out yet. The job would be mostly evening hours and weekends when people are at home. All you have to do is complete a test (get 10/28 questions correct and you pass... for some reason).

So wish me luck in all these job ventures!

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Food, WHAT?

2010-01-26T12:58:00.005-05:00

My friend let me watch his netflix. This was a mistake for two reasons. #1 because I got to see all the movies he likes and now have a crush on him. And #2 I watched Food, Inc.

Now, I tried to stop watching after I saw the part about the chickens... but I figured the worst was over cause we already saw the chickens, right? And then we learned about how all the ingredients you can't pronounce on ingredient labels are probably corn byproducts. Asorbic acid and Xanthan gum and D-glycerine... Yeah all corn! Cool, and fatty. You enjoy your processed food, I'm out. The politics behind corn is a little too ridiculous for me to explain here, but the summary is: D.C. paid people to make wayyyyyy more corn than we needed and then they had to find uses for it. And that is why we are fat.

About 2 minutes later I was looking at something I didn't understand really... And you should click that link to see what I'm talking about.

And if after clicking on that link, you and I are still friends, you can read that I won't ever eat a pig again... or a cow... or a chicken that isn't raised on an organic farm with little happy rainbows. I mean I probably will, but it will be a while. A long while.

I can't even type my normal goodbye because that movie made me feel so sick about going food shopping later.

Wow... so sick. I feel so sick.

Alya

More List Making

2010-01-22T10:01:00.008-05:00

I was recently asked what things I would spend excess income on if I had any, and I've come up with a few things:

1. A series of antique maps of East and Central Africa from the 1600-1800s.

2. Zoe Keating's CDs. All of them. Yesss quantum cello.

3. New clothes, because I have lost a lot of weight and now I'm wearing my sister's clothes and I want my own clothes, kthanks.

4. Stock in Apple. Because everyone should own stock in Apple.

I think that's it. Nothing outrageous. Nothing extravagant like a wii or a car or anything.

And now I just need to the income to pay my Sallie Mae and rent so I can have the aforementioned items. Still waiting to hear from the Navy. I don't know what is taking to long. Maybe they actually read the essays...

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

More from my Beach Day

2010-01-19T13:01:00.013-05:00

Since I had such a lovely day at the beach on Saturday I thought I would post about that again. Mostly because there isn't much else going on with me. Just some reading and writing and exercising. The other stuff that is going on is not at all interesting. I'm waiting for my Navy application results, which should be in by the first week in February. I'm thinking about a possible job in CA. A little cooking... Oh, I'm going night running tomorrow with FERP, which should be fun. And that's really it.

So, the beach was just a wonderful break from mundane for me. I thought I would share a moment with you all from when I was looking at the waves. It reminded me of a recent Radio Lab episode called Numbers.

In this episode the last story (beginning at 43:55) is about a student and his math teacher. They discuss that the calculation of waves is done by using infinity. But to calculate the creation of waves that don't repeat, that die out or that grow, you need a kind of infinity that sits in the space between two numbers; a kind of infinity that isn't just the adding and adding of numbers, but a higher kind of infinity. And when I look at the ocean and I look at waves and the seeming forever-ness that is the sea, I really enjoy the thought that there isn't just infinitesimal space, but that there are infinities which I haven't even imagined yet. Infinities that are so advanced and complex that my mind cannot image them.

ANYWAY, I took a few of the photos from Saturday and entered them in National Geographic's Your Shot contest, which they have every month. They may not win because my camera isn't good enough and because i refuse to digitally enhance my photos, but you never know.

Oh and today I learned something excellent. Platypuses have venom. True story.

Stay safe, don't touch platypuses. And be one with your own infinity.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

BEACH!

2010-01-17T10:24:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I got to go to the Connecticut beach.

I also learned about this phenomenon where on the solstices the tides are extreme. Who else knew about that?

Apparently, and this is how I imagine it, the world tilts a little bit more on the solstices than the rest of the year and it's the biggest high tide and lowest low tide of the year. SO in California in some places you can walk all the way out to the edge of the continental shelf!

Anyone who lives in CA who wants to send me a photo of this, if they've seen it, you know what to do.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

About A Boy

2010-01-14T13:28:00.007-05:00

I was looking for inspiration and searched for "Lamu" on Flickr hoping to find some inspiring photographs and found this photo.

In 2006 I took the following photo. Do you think it's the same child? There's about three years difference between when i was there and when the second photograph was taken. Maybe since the baby fat is gone... I don't know. thoughts? It would be an amazing coincidence.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Serious Post

2010-01-13T09:18:00.008-05:00

This is a new serious post because I did not want the first thing people read when they come to my website to be about... well.. the next post's topic. SO, what could be more serious than the goals I set for myself? (Answer= the goals my employers set for me! yay I'm so funny and would make such a great employee!) ((wow I am such a loser!))

ANYWAY, in my spare time this month I now have three goals:

#1. Finish learning how to drive.

Even though I don't like it and inviting death into my life is a stupid plan... I would do this for a good job.

#2. Finish at least three of the books I have started.

I have started... *drumroll* 17 books. And I got bored of every last one of them, usually within the first 3 chapters. This is because I am intelligent and therefore hypothesize about where these books are going and don't read to the end! Also, because I then spent my time quilting or writing my own book instead, because I am creative.

#3. PAY SALLIE MAE

HAHA noooo that's not it. I'm not gonna pay her until someone pays ME.

#3. (the real one) Find a good time to sell my DRYS shares so I can have "liquid" money to pay Sallie Mae. Current value of those holdings is about $1800, SO ANYTIME NOW. :) Then when I have liquid money I can MOVE to some place where someone will hire me!

And that's all I have as far as lists go. Maybe I'll have more hopes and dreams in future months. OR you can all tell me YOUR hopes and dreams and this can be a fancy interactive blog again!

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

A Bra? For ME!

2010-01-11T12:03:00.011-05:00

This post has been removed because I'm tired of people commenting about it.

Get your calcium!

2010-01-08T09:46:00.006-05:00

Today I discovered little ways to increase your calcium intake without knowing it. I needed to think of these things because my doctor told me to take 1000 mg of calcium a day and I hate tums. TUMS: I hate you.

Oh yeah and I also don't like milk to much cause it tastes like chalk/the inside of a cow's tummy.

1. Order a cafe latte instead of a cappuccino. A cappuccino is made with equal parts espresso and milk with yummy foam on top. nom nom. A latte is made with three times as much milk as espresso. Drink your milk without noticing the difference. Same caffeine intake!

2. Like cream sauces in your pasta? make them with milk not cream and REDUCE it! then you concentrate the vitamin D ANDDDD decrease your calories too.

3. Eat more cookies! Eating more cookies means you will WANT milk. Cookies are nummy. Milk and cookies is extra nummy.

4. Loads of recipes call for milk like cooked spinach (which I have just discovered I LOVE, so don't be all judgey-face at me), and lots of chicken a la "stuff" things. They give you calcium and you don't even know it. Plus, Spinach has secret Calcium, like other leafy greens.

5. Other things with calcium: CHEESE, salmon, kale, broccoli, sesame seeds, peanuts, peas, black beans, yogurt, almonds, brown sugar and milk byproducts... like oh right we covered CHEESE. Can I have cheese? I LOVE CHEESE! Mmmm.

So these are my tips for eating more calcium so you can be healthy and strong and not get osteoporosis/ have bone loss without eating yucky tums! ENJOY!

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

I isolated the DNA of a strawberry today

2010-01-07T19:53:00.004-05:00

I learned how to isolated the DNA of things from this website. It was possibly the coolest thing EVER. The DNA was slightly pinkish and awesome and I want to have a special microscope to see them!

The Photo is of me with my DNA!!

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

CUTE!

2010-01-06T12:39:00.008-05:00

This morning I was meandering around the world wide web today and came across this website featuring "cute food."

I know, you're wondering what hell I'm talking about. Cute food like people who eat kittens? NO.

This is a perfect example: the edible Eiffel Tower with do-it-yourself instructions. The website links in the photo so you can see what the components are made out of. With some fancy knife work, you can make your own fancy French meal. As a side note, you see the fabric on the table under the box the food is in? Yeah... the pajama pants I'm wearing right now, which I made myself, they're made from the exact same fabric. No joke. That Eiffel Tower meal is basically being eaten off my pants.

Enjoy that disturbing or amusing or appealing (depending on who you are) thought as we nonchalantly transition over to the topic of me being out of Radio Lab episodes. Why was I looking at cute food? Because for the past two weeks I have spent all of my waking moments listening to a podcast called Radio Lab. Yes, I admit, this is procrastination from looking for real work to some extent, but some how I still manage to write cover letters and send out resumes so I dunno what the deal is.

ANYWAY, Radio Lab is like... science for dummies. But REALLY COMPLICATED SCIENCE for dummies. And by dummies I mean people like me, and I'm not so dumb I just don't understand quantum mechanics and the intricacies of string theory because I'm not at an IQ of 174. YET. I will increase my brain power. The cute Bento Box Bunnies told me it would happen. I only have like 20 points to go. And when I get there I plan to build the particle accelerator to your left. ;)

Now if you want to know what the hell I'm talking about with this whole Radio Lab nonsense, listen to THIS PODCAST on MORALITY. It's probably the one that has been the most re-broadcasted in different forms, in clips in bits and pieces as parts of NPR or other shows on the radio, so it may sound familiar.

Why I like radio lab is how they edit the sound.

The other part I like is that they take very complex ideas and scientific experiments and make them accessible.

Please take the time to enjoy.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

New Novel

2010-01-04T09:47:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I listened to a podcast called "(so-called) life" from the WNYC radio show Radio Lab.

What I heard on this show blew my freaking mind into tiny little pieces and then as I got up off the floor of the living room and put the pieces back together I decided two things: #1 I was tired of not writing, and #2 I was going to write a new novel about the DNA factory.

While my initial reaction to the episode was "they've found the gene strand that makes things glow in the dark??? I WANT TO GLOW IN THE DARK!! I want to glow in the dark and fly and HAVE SONAR!!! And I will be the GLOWING WOMBAT!"

My SECOND thought was more along lines of "well everyone is going to want sonar... people are going to want to customize themselves and their children to be superheroes..."

And if I don't have the expertise to make the Gene Factory myself, similar to my Black Hole necklace idea... maybe you guys don't know about that... it's another Radio Lab spawned idea of mine... Srsly, don't ask people, I have too much free time.

ANYWAY, if I can't profit off of the ACTUAL gene factory at MIT, then I'm gonna profit off of the novel.

Because, as I see it, someone should because we live in a capitalistic world.

YAY!

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

P.S. Look at the time stamp, ooooooh sad for you my idea is copyrighted. *sadface*

Tin Foil Hat

2010-01-01T17:02:00.006-05:00

So clearly this is a photo of my cat Stanley in a tin foil hat. The hat is to block aliens and the government from reading his thoughts.

The origins of the tin foil hat is something I recently wondered about after my friend Phillip watched Signs and wondered about it. Apparently it was featured in a number of movies and tv shows from Lovesick to the the X-files, and originates from a 1904 Scientific American article discussing radio waves.

Just thought you'd all like to know.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

P.S. after joking around with another friend we created this Icanhascheezburger Stanley with the tin foil hat. Stanley is hiding behind me as I post it online. I would not dare go so far as to humiliate Stanley and post it on the actual icanhacheezburger site.

Dear Stanley, Please still love me! Sincerely, Alya

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T19:23:00.003-05:00

Good bye 2009. Hello new year full of promise and possibility.

Merry Christmas etc.

2009-12-24T11:38:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to share with you all the photo my friend Libby took of the Christmas Tree in her town.

Is it just me, or does it look like that tree is wearing a moo-moo made of lights?

Law of the I.Sea.Sea.

2009-12-18T10:34:00.011-05:00

The Dutch Navy released all these Somali Pirates today because no country was willing to prosecute them... (full article here)

Okay, Earth, it's called the International Criminal Court. I wrote a whole article about this last year. The ICC is not just for war criminals, it's original purpose, as defined by it's creator whom I interviewed last year, was for TRANSNATIONAL CRIMES. There is just so much I want to say about this right now.

But instead, let's just... Paste that article from The Planet HERE

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently known for its high profile trials of dictators and in conjunction with terms like “crimes against humanity”, “genocide”, and “”war crimes,” but was this the original intention of this body? According to a recent conversation I had with one of the people who helped pass the original draft document on the issue, not at all.

Professor Roy S. Lee, B.C.L., LL.M., Ph.D., who currently teaches at Columbia University's School of Law, was pivotal in creating the wording of the document that created the ICC under the International Court of Justice of the United Nations. He worked with the United Nations since 1969 in the upper levels of the secretariat, on a variety of issues such as human rights, the law of the sea and the law of international institutions. Perhaps the most substantial contribution was in the mid-1990s, while he was in charge of the International Law Commission, the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the UN General Assembly and of the Diplomatic Conference which eventually led to the creation of the International Criminal Court, adopted in 1998.

According to Lee the original intention of the ICC was to deal with issues that were outside single state jurisdiction, not matters of war crimes after civil conflict. He highlighted two specific incidents, in fact, that he felt could have been avoided had the ICC been used effectively as he had intended, the Iraq-American weapons of mass destruction debate in 2002-2003 and the Russia-Georgia Ossetia territory dispute currently underway. He said that the United States could, and should had utilized the ICC in this international claim and that a legal dispute could have prevented war in both cases.

However, he did make the concession that the body is operated exactly as he envisioned in 1998 and it only works on a case when the countries involved approve of it. The major concern in early years regarding the creation of any international court system and legal body was the respecting of state sovereignty and the claim of international jurisdiction over that of the state’s own laws. Bypassing state sovereignty and national laws would lead to the disintegration of trust and thereby ruin any legitimacy the ICC has as a place where grievances can be ruled upon in an unbiased manor. The balancing act of enacting international law, which is still being written in many ways, is one major reason why issues such as border conflicts between hegemonies and smaller countries are unlikely to go to the court. Would going to an international court be a sign of weakness, or prove that the ICC was the strongest its ever been, solidifying its place as the highest court in the world, thus fulfilling its original intention?

While it is unlikely that a conflict like the Ossetia dispute or American WMD claim would ever have made it to the ICC, lets hypothesize briefly on the what if scenario. What if in 2002 when Colin Powell went to the United Nations to present materials it was not to convince nations to send allied troops into Iraq but rather subpoena Saddam Hussein, et al. to the ICC for a hearing on his WMD holdings and usage on not only his own people, but threatening the international community. Would we have approximately 90-93,000 civilian Iraqis deaths, over 4,080 Americans dead and 30,000 wounded since May, 2003? Would the trial even be completed yet?

It is useful to hypothesize a world where war can be avoided by taking matters of international dispute to an international court, where issues such as China-Taiwan, Israel-Palestine, Cyprus, and the Kuril island disputes could be decided. Even something like which nation is responsible for refugees who have existed outside of their home country for more than 20 years but refuse to return home could be decided through the ICC, but in the case of Afghanistan, no attempts to go to the ICC have been made.

When I met him at a conference on how climate change affects island states, it would seem that currently Lee wanted the ICC to deal with issues such as who has jurisdiction over the middle of the Pacific Ocean and should clean up the garbage that collects there. As the global warming and changes the focus of nations around the world, perhaps in the future we will see fewer crimes against humanity and more trials on crimes against humidity.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Physical Fitness Test

2009-12-14T14:09:00.006-05:00

Today is my practice PRT for the Navy. The entrance exam to test my Physical Fitness. I'm referring to it from now on as the "Pretty Freaking Tough" Exam cause I somehow have to pull 21 push ups, 58 sit ups and a "fun" run of a mile and a half out of my butt within 20 minutes.

Even though I've been training for this for a while, I have a bad shoulder right now and I'm kind of worried about my ability to pull this off. I just have to remember that I have made it through worse and even when I'm hurting out there on the track, I've hurt worse... like when I had Malaria... or busted my ankle. I can so DO THIS. I want to be an officer in the U.S. Navy. I want to serve my country and my Commander in Chief. I want to lead with distinction. I can do this. This is not the hardest thing I will ever have to do.

So... Good luck to me... I'll update you all later as to my status of pass or fail.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

RESULTS:
Toe touch: PASS!
Push ups: 37! Excellent
Sit ups: 62! Good
Fun run: 16 minutes (fail) so I get to do it again! :( sick.

Penny Lane

2009-12-14T09:38:00.008-05:00

I was watching the West Wing this morning while I was preparing for my PFT this afternoon, and they had the episode about abolishing the Penny. You know... THE PENNY. With the Lincoln and the copper and the pling pling in the piggy bank.

I love pennies. I REALLY DO. I'm not being facetious. Pennies make the economy of this country work. For example: You want to go get, say, a cheetah print Snuggie at Wal*Mart and you don't want to pay more than $20? Good thing it's only $19.99!! <3 the Penny.

In the U.S. we revere the penny. We have sayings about the penny, like "A Penny saved is a Penny earned." or "It's gonna cost you a pretty penny" or "Penny for your thoughts!" "that boy's a bad penny!" AND "those bad pennies always turn up when you don't want them to..."

So why abolish the Penny when it's so much a part of our Americana culture? WELL as the West Wing makes clear, the Penny is almost entirely out of circulation.

TERRY: The dollar has the buying power today that the quarter had 30 years ago. The penny's buying power shrunk to nothing.

SAM: Well, that's not true. You can get yourself a gumball.

TERRY: No, you can't. They cost a nickel.

Actually NOW they cost a quarter. This episode was made a few year ago and what with inflation and all... *sigh* to be in the gumball biz...

To tie this all back to Copenhagen and my apparent Theme of the Month "The Environment", it is also explained that mining the millions of tons of copper and zinc that go into making pennies is bad for the environment. 2/3rds of all pennies are out of circulation, they are in jars or couches or and not in "take a penny leave a penny" containers at the grocery store. That many pennies roaming free is also pretty bad for the environment since they are seen as garbage. How may times have you seen pennies on the street? What a sad fate for Lincoln, srsly.

Which brings me to my favorite quote of the episode:

Sam: The Mint gets letters with pennies taped to notebook paper. Letters
from citizens who found the pennies on the street and mailed them back to the Treasury to help pay down the debt.

I think this plan COULD and SHOULD be enacted on a grand scale! Here's the plan: Save your pennies and mail them back to the Treasury Dept. in those U.S. Postal boxes... you know, the "one price no matter what the weight is" boxes... all we need is... 9,000,000,000,000,000 pennies!

Alright, forget it. Abolish the penny. That dinky shiny coin is basically worthless.

And maybe in the grand scheme of things, this is a non-issue. The West Wing knows that, and makes fun of that fact within the episode:

LEO: What do you need?

SAM: No, if you're in the middle of something, I can come back.

ADAMLEY: We're eliminating genocide. What are you doing?

SAM: Eliminating the penny. So I'll come back.

But STILL, I kinda wish we could address the small things with as much vigor as we address the bigger issues.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

*photographer's note: that photo of pennies does include one dime, but that dime is so BUSTED it's probably only worth a penny.*

Rotating Kitchen = Life/ iTunes sent me a Genius

2009-12-09T13:43:00.007-05:00

The first thing I want to say about the embedded video entitled Rotating Kitchen (which if you cannot see can be found HERE) is that it's art, and there doesn't have to be a point.

Please be patient because it may take a while to load and it's best if it doesn't freeze for streaming. Thanks.

rotating kitchen from Zeger Reyers on Vimeo.

THAT SAID, I think the purpose of this piece is to show how things are not always what they appear and how easily everything can get turned upside down. I mean look at the angle when things start to fall, it's what? 15 degrees?

And then once it starts its hard to stop and people start cheering for more disaster.

It's like a little personal soap opera in that kitchen. You start wondering how bad reality can get. I think it makes a lot of sense. I mean its not enough that one whole wall is demolished, you kinda need to see the kitchen entirely upside down. It shows you how sick you are, how much you lust for destruction; you want to see that light go out. You need to see it go out. And it's not just me, its everyone. I think it is a really well executed, brilliant piece.

Even when things fall OUT of the kitchen... which kind of breaks the illusion in many ways as the kitchen has entered the viewer's zone, in other ways it perpetuates your lust for destruction. I mean stuff falling out? That just makes you want to see everything from the kitchen on the floor in front of the box.

Kind of reminds me of how bad my life COULD be.

ANYWAY. Now that I have quenched my blood lust for ruin for yet another day...

Did anyone else know that iTunes now does this thing where it takes your music and makes specialized playlists off of it's super huge database of compatible music? It's almost like iTunes hired a musical genius just for me and sent him through my musical collection and made 16 playlists! I love my mini music genius.

Of course he has flaws. Like my Jazz play list featuring such artists as Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Etta James, Coltrane, and Jay-Z. Oops?

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Breathing Easier

2009-12-07T20:03:00.012-05:00

Thank goodness the U.S. decided to announce a great step to step up environmental policy initiative just as we finish up in Copenhagen. Released today, the U.S. acknowledges that greenhouse gases are harmful and can be deadly to humans. This means that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can now monitor and limit pollution into the atmosphere without Congressional approval, which in the past was what held up the U.S.'s environmental action.

The news came as global climate talks got under way in Copenhagen, Denmark aimed at forging a deal on major emissions cuts.

The best part is that it helps to legitimize the Copenhagen Talks. Some news pundits, who clearly know nothing and yet influence a HUGE portion of populous, were beginning to speculate that the talks were failing since President Obama (who wasn't even supposed to attend, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was) is only attending the closing sessions. President Obama attending shows how important he feels this conference is.

After working on climate change issues with small island nations for the past two years I could not be more happy that this announcement was made. I am equally pleased with the bilateral agreements made between nations leading up to Copenhagen, such as the one between France and Brazil promoting more responsible logging and preservation of the Amazon and the rain forest. (The linked article, entitled, "France and Brazil joined forces on Saturday to press the United States and China to make significant concessions at next month's climate change summit in Copenhagen" is really interesting for any Poly Sci/ Env Sci geek. Please take a look if you have time.)

Of course, the Green movement has been going on for some time in France. I recently was reminded of this great music video from 2006.

SO, now that the U.S. is leading by example and developing countries like Brazil are recognizing their responsibilities to environmental protection and emissions... Well, India and China, the ball is in your court.

Photography note: The rain forest that is pictured is actually in Costa Rica, where I spent a summer working to protect turtles from poachers and help the MINAE forestry department preserve the Arenal Volcano Park. It's not Brazil, but I haven't gotten there yet. ;)

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

The UN song and THE CHICKEN STORY

2009-12-04T20:43:00.017-05:00

I know, you get to hear the chicken block watch story. Yes, you are very excited.

BUT FIRST! (yes, I *BAIT* and switch-ed ya.)

About a month ago I went to the UN Day: A Tribute to Peace Keeping Concert at the UN (yay for free tickets to awesome things, love my job!). The last song they played was THIS: The Price of Silence.

It is actually a really fun song and has artists like Sister Fa, Natalie Merchant, Aterciopelados, Emmanuel Jal, and Angelique Kidjo. Now I was lucky to see some of these artists in concert. BUT the best part of this video is that you get to see fake delegates dancing inside of a computer generated UN General Assembly Hall, and it is THE FUNNIEST THING to watch ACTUAL UN footage mixed with fake delegates dancing soooo poorly. Also there is a creepy pregnant lady dancing who wore, I kid you not, a dress with a GIANT FETUS on it made out of felt.

And yeah, that's the photo that I took when I saw President Obama speak at the UN cause I am that awesome. You know it. Awesome and poor. (Doesn't the guy behind him kind of look like "Oh crap, not this hope and change BS again..."? Poor man, he's so tired from his long translation or long flight ;).)

AND NOW, THE CHICKEN STORY:

So, in addition to all my many jobs and titles and accomplishments and yadda yadda I am so cool and BROKE, I am the president of the Upper Orange Street Block Watch (formerly the East Rock Block Watch). My responsibilities in this position revolve around informing members of the block watch of devious activities in the neighborhood. When there is crime, people tell me, and then I email everyone else and scare the bejesus out of them, and they all email me back going "OMG, Alya, that is so totally AWFUL! Did they call the cops! I hope everyone is okay! Did the cat make it out of the tree?"

No but seriously, this is Urban New Haven. We do have real crimes. Y'all remember Annie Le? :( She was the Yale graduate student that they found in the WALL. Yeah. New Haven has 2.5 TIMES as many homicides PER CAPITA as NYC. Step it up, NYC we're making you look bad. Or Safe. Whatever.

Most of my emails are like

"A car was stolen here at this time, suspect unknown. If you saw anything please call the cops. kthanks, Alya."

BACK TO THE CHICKEN.

There is this competing Block Watch. They're called the SoHU group, for South of Humphrey Street. ooooo they have an Acronym.... Fancy... Whatever. ANYWAY the president of THAT group sends out, I'd estimate, about 30 TIMES more emails than I do. Their group is more of a Block ORGANIZATION though. I just do crime and traffic. I also try to only report on incidents that occur in MY AREA. She sends stuff out for all of New Haven. I don't like to clog the inboxes, you know?

So on Thursday she sends this email. I'm gonna just paste the email WORD FOR WORD:

Subject: SoHu: Missing Chicken

Hi All,

A neighbor at ## Clark street keeps some chickens. 4 of them. They just chased a hawk away from their yard, but one of the [chickens] is missing. She doesn't know if a hawk got her, or if the chicken flew over the fence because she was scared.

She’s reddish brown and she really blends in with the leaves this time of year. Her name is Ginger but chickens aren’t very good at coming when called.

If you see the chicken, can you please let me know asap.

Thanks,
Lisa
PERSONAL CONTACT INFO
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Group "South of Humphrey", the SoHu block watch community group. http://sohunewhaven.org
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/newhaven_sohu?hl=en

... Let me show you a picture of New Haven.

This is not the best place for a chicken.

Let me calm all of your fears and say:

Subject: SoHU: GINGER FOUND!

Hi All,

Ginger was found cowering in the bushes out on Clark St. Call off the missing chicken alert! Thanks to you all who responded so quickly!

L
Lisa

I'm really glad my efforts to drop everything I was doing to go look for that missing chicken didn't go to waste. It would have been devastating if we had to put out a Ginger Alert and she was taken by that hawk!

To understand WHY people in New Haven, CT, the third largest city in Connecticut with a population of 125,000 people now have chickens in their backyards, please read this article (the photo is of the SoHU alderman, Roland Lemar, and my ex-Alderman, who has been replaced by Justin Elicker). Or you can read this article in Urban Chickens... no seriously?

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya