Food miles
Bob Morris @ Mar 23rd 2008 20:30 - Category: Energy conservation ;
Hmm, maybe flying strawberries from New Zealand to New England in January isn’t the best of all possible use of resources.
Archive for March 23rd, 2008
Another antiwar protest flops
Bob Morris @ Mar 23rd 2008 15:30 - Category: Anti-war ;
“River to River: Join Hands for Peace” in NYC organized by UFJP needed 2500 people to stretch hands fingertip to fingertip across the width of Manhattan to make some pointless symbolic Cumbaya gesture, but got nowhere close to that. Those who came apparently were mostly middleaged and older too.
And if they had gotten enough people, how would that have helped end the war?
The recent round of antiwar protests and demonstrations nationwide were a dismal flop. Turnout was extremely low. While preoccupation on the presidential election and the economy is certainly be a factor, the inability of the antiwar movement to come up with new ideas and approaches is also a key reason that the 5th anniversary of the war protests were a dud.
Recycling ideas from the 60’s and expecting them to work just as effectively 40 years later in a Net-driven world is no longer a valid approach. Sure, the original protests as the war was starting were huge and grabbed the attention of the planet. But from then on it’s been the same “people in the streets” approach with a march then a rally and you probably have the speeches memorized by now too as you look around and wonder why the crowd is so small. Well, that’s why. It’s been done dozens of times before and is no longer new, exciting, or interesting. So only the die-hards will go, not anyone new. Without new blood, the whole thing just becomes preaching to the choir or silly feel-good posturing that accomplish nothing.
The populace does oppose the war. But the antiwar movement isn’t reaching them or engaging them. For it to become a true mass movement with genuine political power, it needs to.
Lhasa riot
Bob Morris @ Mar 23rd 2008 10:30 - Category: Unfiled Tags: Tibet;
The video shows mobs destroying small stores in Lhasa. I saw the same kind of mob violence watching the LA riots on TV as city blocks a few miles away burned and a store down the street got firebombed. Nor will I ever forget a few days later seeing heavily armed National Guard and vehicles on Venice Beach.
The precipitating event for the LA uprising / insurrection / riot / whatever you want to call it was the hideously unjust verdict in the Rodney King beating trial. Not that it justified torching entire city blocks, but sometimes years of pent-up rage does explode into the open. I wonder what the precipitating event in Lhasa was?
A Mexican friend told me his brother owned an auto parts store in the riot area in LA. What happened, I asked. My brother put a “Mexican owned and operated” sign on the store, he said. And that saved the store? Well, we were on the roof all night with shotguns and AKs too. Oh.
But the LA riots burned out in three days. It looks like the Lhasa riots are spreading, and the westmost provinces of China have always been separatist and are getting restless. Alvin Toffler once said he thought China would eventually fracture into multiple parts. I think time will prove Toffler correct. Also, the Chinese government seems immensely clueless, and that just makes things worse. My guess - increasing and visible unrest as the Olympics near.
Wave power for Maui
Bob Morris @ Mar 23rd 2008 05:30 - Category: Climate change, Renewable energy ;
Maui will soon have Hawaii’s first wave power project. May there be many more. Maui has also been developing sizable amounts of wind power. Makes sense for an island to produce their own clean power rather than ship in oil from the mainland to be used in power plants. Locally produced clean energy is the best kind.
Ahead of the Curve: Business responds to climate change
Bob Morris @ Mar 23rd 2008 00:30 - Category: Climate change ;
This professional 12 minute video, Ahead of the Curve, shows how major US corporations like GE, DuPont, J&J, Wal-Mart, and Duke Energy are not only investing millions in lessening their own carbon footprints, they are saving money and spinning off new products while doing so. In other words, it’s helping their business and bottom line.
Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers says in the video that the chances of federal regulation on climate climate in the next five years is “100%” and that those passing the bills will almost certainly be consulting with the companies that have already demonstrated leadership and action.
This kind of outreach on climate change to business titans (and just non-titan regular businesses) is extremely valuable — and the outreach needs to be in many forms, like this.
Business increasingly gets it. Come Jan. 2009 when Neanderthals no longer inhabit the White House is when the real change at the federal level will start.
