Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Inspiring Post on Slashdot.org re: government overstepping and the possibility for large positive changes
I think this post speaks volumes on the importance of attitude.
The author of that post has a regular blog, quite inspiring, on post-scarcity culture.
The author of that post has a regular blog, quite inspiring, on post-scarcity culture.
Labels: grace, media, paradigm shift, personal bookmarks, readings, sustenance
Thursday, November 15, 2012
From Henry Nelson Wieman's "The Problem of Power"
I found this in the American Journal of Theology and Philosophy (Vol. 3 no.1)
It's from Henry Nelson Wieman's book Creative Freedom: The Vocation of Liberal Religion
Comments from thread on FB:
It's from Henry Nelson Wieman's book Creative Freedom: The Vocation of Liberal Religion
Comments from thread on FB:
- This piece, written in 1982 [edit: oops, published in journal in 1982], is actually quite accurate for today, if not moreso.
The statement in the box, I do believe. There is a giant mass of people in the US who are not able to (or choose not to) see the big picture and would not choose to allocate funds toward that which is needed in a complex society, and THAT is why we elect representatives and executives, who should do their jobs with as little corruption as possible when they've chosen to take on that specialized role in our society. Sadly, most of those who've been governing have been neglecting to do so with the common good front-and-center.
Wieman argues that in a democracy, the people tend to argue for their own interests to the degree that for anybody to get into office, they have to kowtow to the voters' ill-informed [see 'media reform'] or myopic localized private demands; and anybody who gets into office (or tries to get in) and attempts to divert the process of governing AWAY from supporting these local interests toward the big things that only government can do is quickly voted out. Somehow military and prisons still receive support, but I imagine that's because they represent private moneyed interests whom the government is no longer able to govern, but rather now acts as a siphon of public funds.
The two solutions he presents are problematic in that I can't see a way to connect the dots between the present situation and attitudes to what is required to get out of this: "1) Demonstrable truth concerning the common good which underlies and sustains the diversity of local and private interests but not identical with any part or whole of them. And 2) a form of religion which leads [people] to trust and commit themselves to the common good sufficiently to allow their government to command resources and concerted action in its service independently of local and private interests. Also this devotion of religious commitment must control the leaders as well as the people and control [men] who exercise the power of authority in high positions of government."
I think he sees "religion" here secularly, in a way similar to my view of it: the way we live our life, rather than the narrow view of all the buildings, rituals. "Religion" being "that which holds us together," and "politics" being "how we choose to be in community with each other."
The big problem I see with #1 is that the framework for talking about the common good needs to be rebuilt, and that won't happen until there are a preponderance of voices doing so in the media. A media revolution would be required. And with #2 the problem I see has to do with the argument that Bo has made (I here paraphrase and add my own extension): Why would you want to support a government with your tax dollars that is doing so much bad with it and NOT putting it to the common good (drones, wall street, military and prison pork projects....)?
I would rewrite #2 (CAPS are new): a form of religion which leads [people] to trust and commit themselves to the common good sufficiently to allow AND DEMAND THAT their government to command resources and concerted action in its service independently of local and private interests. Also this devotion of religious commitment must control the leaders as well as the people and control [men] who exercise the power of authority in high positions of government." IOW we have to develop the willpower to REALLY inculcate ourselves and our future generations about the importance of the common good. I don't have any idea how many people would agree with that philosophy, or would be willing to offer up that much of their energy toward that even if we did have a really accountable government. Anarchy (aside from the "if men were angels, no government would be needed" mantra) would suck. Totalitarian dictatorship would suck. Democracy IMHO, done right, would suck less.
C: Military and Prisons also receive money because they are directly associated with Fear and a hypothetical lessening of fear by penalizing "bad people". Sadly the really bad people aren't always the ones incarcerated.- I wonder just where are these really bad people hiding out?
Wieman may provide an answer to this: "In all ages and among almost all peoples excepting recent Western society, a few persons had privileges traditionally established which the masses did not have. They had leisure, did no manual work, could wear ostentatious clothing permitted to no others and develop manners and qualities of mind which set them apart from the common people... which made everyone view these privileged few as a different kind of being from the rest of humanity."
Labels: 5th UU principle, 6th UU principle, education, government, media, oppression, organized religion, our mission, theology, USA
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
How to Create a Great Album
Just bookmarking and sharing this for future reference.
.
lyrics: once in a while the time will come to surrender everything you have to give.
colors: 22AA77
mood: busy - if there's never enough time, what does that mean?
chant/prayer/mantra: master time, master all.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: audio, guitar, media, music, personal bookmarks
Monday, October 17, 2011
What's the Matter with Kansas? Movie
Labels: media, personal bookmarks, politics, USA
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Two things to read
America is a second world nation. We have no universal free health care (don't kid yourself about the plan underway), no guarantee of anything really, except competitive struggle with one another for work and money and career status, if you are one of those conditioned to think of your job and feudal debt enslavement as a "career." High infant mortality rates, abysmal educational scores, poor diet, no national public transportation system, crumbling infrastructure, a collapsed economy, even by our own definition we are a second world nation.
In serious, intelligent people, experiencing non-manufactured reality usually gives lifelong meaning and insight to the work.
Labels: anti-oppression, Capitalism, indifferent corporations, media, oppression, personal bookmarks, personal growth, politics, salvation, theological sources, USA
Thursday, November 19, 2009
My question on Digg to FCC Chairman
.
Dear FCC Chairman Genachowski,
With the advent of digital broadcast television, and its capacity to greatly increase the number of channels, why are the airwaves still being leased to so few entities, mostly with commercial interests in mind? It seems that the FCC has been allowing for greater corporate media consolidation and the switch to DTV would be an opportunity to change course. Why has this not been done?
We could use those extra channels to allow for a much more diversity in terms of who gets to voice their opinions publicly via mass media, which would allow for greater democracy. The cynic in me wonders if that last statement doesn't actually answer my questions. Please tell me that is not the case, and how you intend to open the airwaves to the public.
Thank you,
.......
[edit] well, i got 6 diggs only. either others aren't interested in it, or it was a case of bad timing. the results of their Q and A session will be posted on Digg on Dec 2.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Dear FCC Chairman Genachowski,
With the advent of digital broadcast television, and its capacity to greatly increase the number of channels, why are the airwaves still being leased to so few entities, mostly with commercial interests in mind? It seems that the FCC has been allowing for greater corporate media consolidation and the switch to DTV would be an opportunity to change course. Why has this not been done?
We could use those extra channels to allow for a much more diversity in terms of who gets to voice their opinions publicly via mass media, which would allow for greater democracy. The cynic in me wonders if that last statement doesn't actually answer my questions. Please tell me that is not the case, and how you intend to open the airwaves to the public.
Thank you,
.......
[edit] well, i got 6 diggs only. either others aren't interested in it, or it was a case of bad timing. the results of their Q and A session will be posted on Digg on Dec 2.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: Capitalism, indifferent corporations, media, USA
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A Note on Media Reform
.I just uploaded this link to my Facebook page, and figure it's worth sharing here.
Wow, this entire event seems to be made up of people who are grossly deluded, many of them by Fox News. People act logically, based on the information they're given. This situation calls for real media reform. Fox News, officially and LEGALLY..., is ENTERTAINMENT and that's how they can get away with fabricating what they do. It's abhorrent that so few people know that fact.
The media reform ought not try to stop them from broadcasting, but should require truth in advertising (what product they are broadcasting), and should open up all those new digital channels being sent out over the public airwaves to many more voices, instead of just giving the previous airwave leasers (mistakenly thought to be owners) extra channels to do with as they please.
It's now time to let some of the many voices currently relegated to the Internet have spectrum rights in proportion to the size of their readership/viewership.
colors: Red, white, and blue.
chant/prayer/mantra: It's all about the light.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Wow, this entire event seems to be made up of people who are grossly deluded, many of them by Fox News. People act logically, based on the information they're given. This situation calls for real media reform. Fox News, officially and LEGALLY..., is ENTERTAINMENT and that's how they can get away with fabricating what they do. It's abhorrent that so few people know that fact.
The media reform ought not try to stop them from broadcasting, but should require truth in advertising (what product they are broadcasting), and should open up all those new digital channels being sent out over the public airwaves to many more voices, instead of just giving the previous airwave leasers (mistakenly thought to be owners) extra channels to do with as they please.
It's now time to let some of the many voices currently relegated to the Internet have spectrum rights in proportion to the size of their readership/viewership.
colors: Red, white, and blue.
chant/prayer/mantra: It's all about the light.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: media, our mission, politics, USA
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Doodle 4 Google
This is just too cute, and I wanted to bookmark it for myself and also share it.
In a nutshell, what I like about this is that a major corporation is asking kids to share their imagination and dreams, and then amplifying it out to the world (I guess that's one of the advantages of being a major media corporation). Hmmm, that's the first time I've thought of Google as big media -- I guess since they don't have TV stations, etc, they don't fit the normal definition, but with acquisitions of things like YouTube (and of course being the ubiquitous search engine), they're certainly grabbing a lot of eyeballs now....
chant/prayer/mantra: allow your children's dreams to become real, and just maybe they can put this world's nightmares to rest.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
In a nutshell, what I like about this is that a major corporation is asking kids to share their imagination and dreams, and then amplifying it out to the world (I guess that's one of the advantages of being a major media corporation). Hmmm, that's the first time I've thought of Google as big media -- I guess since they don't have TV stations, etc, they don't fit the normal definition, but with acquisitions of things like YouTube (and of course being the ubiquitous search engine), they're certainly grabbing a lot of eyeballs now....
chant/prayer/mantra: allow your children's dreams to become real, and just maybe they can put this world's nightmares to rest.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: art, google, heaven on earth, media, theological sources
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Barack the Magic Negro? Really???
FWIW, I am writing this post as a sort of bookmark in life, with the hope that this kind of scenario finally goes the way of the dodo bird....
+++
So, one of the candidates for RNC chairman decided it was a good idea to send around a CD to his cohort with a song in which a Rush Limbaugh songwriter (a white guy) pretends to be Al Sharpton being dismayed about how Barack Obama has more appeal than him. Additionally, there's other hits like "The Star Spanglish Banner." Ugh.
In the first place, the Magic Negro song itself (originally released about eighteen months ago with plenty of Rush Limbaugh airplay) is disgusting. In the second place, it tries to put words in Al Sharpton's mouth, and seems to try and stir up or present discord among the leadership in the black community/communities, which is disgusting on a different level. And in the third place, it's even uglier that even after the election, instead of realizing that white racism is one of the reasons that republicans lost the presidential election, and that maybe they could do something to work toward right (no pun intended) relationship with communities of color, someone would think a racist mixed CD would be a good way to build community.
To me, one of the biggest problems here is that a person (a white person in this case) is afforded a voice in the mass media, and is using that voice to ostensibly speak from and to the black community, trying to insert something into the story. I loathe when people try to tell my story for me or about others. But when they do, I ask two questions: 1) What story are they trying to tell? and 2) How close is it to the ultimate reality? And now I will start developing a habit of asking a third question: 3) WHY are they telling this story?
Why would Rush Limbaugh tell a story about Al Sharpton and Barack Obama on his show? "To try to define the context and then influence opinion," is my initial guess, but I'm sure there are other reasons if we look more deeply.
What story are the originators of this song trying to tell? That Barack is a Magic Negro, supposedly. First, that he fits into a racialized category of their definition/agreement. And then, that by "Magic" they mean he's the black man that all the white folks can feel OK about. And then, that Al Sharpton is upset, and would call Barack out for not being the same kind of black man that he is. I really wonder how Al Sharpton responds to this video, but have been unable to find that in searches yet.
And finally, how close is this story to the truth? Well, if it had actually come from Al Sharpton's mouth, it would have more credibility, but considering the sources, it's quite apparently fabricated. People who fabricate things, and tell other people's stories for them should have their access to the mass media cut back accordingly, but apparently, Rush has friends who let him keep on keeping on.
Now regarding Chip Saltsman, the racist CD-mixer, who tries to continue propagating that story... What story is he telling, how close is it to the truth, and why is he telling it?
Here's the story I tell about him, though I would really love to hear it from his own mouth: What story is he telling? That it's OK, in fact it's appropriate, to send around a CD with songs like this, as some token of unity. How close to the truth? Probably not very, except in the limited community who already buys into overt bigotry and propaganda that continues to put it out there. Why does he tell the story? To try and remind/convince himself and others in his group that things are not changing, and that white people are still inherently better.
I would hope that my story is off-base, and welcome a response to tell the real story. Until then, I'd also offer another story for Chip to tell: The story he's telling is that he's out of touch. That naming this act "out of touch" is pretty close to the truth. And that he's telling the story so that someone will come and offer some assistance, so he and his friends can learn to be in right relationship with others beyond their cohort, with others within the cohort, and with themselves, and the stories they tell about themselves.
It would be great if those further along toward building a beloved and harmonious community could just do a magic FTFY for them, but it seems there is still a part of humanity who will choose to (or be unable to do other than) learn this the hard way, and hopefully in the meantime, other people with more consolidational values will gain grounding and connection in the effort to making justice happen.
lyrics: Not from that song!
colors: united
mood: a whole laundry list of stuff to do
chant/prayer/mantra: energy, friends, prayer, dream
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
+++
So, one of the candidates for RNC chairman decided it was a good idea to send around a CD to his cohort with a song in which a Rush Limbaugh songwriter (a white guy) pretends to be Al Sharpton being dismayed about how Barack Obama has more appeal than him. Additionally, there's other hits like "The Star Spanglish Banner." Ugh.
In the first place, the Magic Negro song itself (originally released about eighteen months ago with plenty of Rush Limbaugh airplay) is disgusting. In the second place, it tries to put words in Al Sharpton's mouth, and seems to try and stir up or present discord among the leadership in the black community/communities, which is disgusting on a different level. And in the third place, it's even uglier that even after the election, instead of realizing that white racism is one of the reasons that republicans lost the presidential election, and that maybe they could do something to work toward right (no pun intended) relationship with communities of color, someone would think a racist mixed CD would be a good way to build community.
To me, one of the biggest problems here is that a person (a white person in this case) is afforded a voice in the mass media, and is using that voice to ostensibly speak from and to the black community, trying to insert something into the story. I loathe when people try to tell my story for me or about others. But when they do, I ask two questions: 1) What story are they trying to tell? and 2) How close is it to the ultimate reality? And now I will start developing a habit of asking a third question: 3) WHY are they telling this story?
Why would Rush Limbaugh tell a story about Al Sharpton and Barack Obama on his show? "To try to define the context and then influence opinion," is my initial guess, but I'm sure there are other reasons if we look more deeply.
What story are the originators of this song trying to tell? That Barack is a Magic Negro, supposedly. First, that he fits into a racialized category of their definition/agreement. And then, that by "Magic" they mean he's the black man that all the white folks can feel OK about. And then, that Al Sharpton is upset, and would call Barack out for not being the same kind of black man that he is. I really wonder how Al Sharpton responds to this video, but have been unable to find that in searches yet.
And finally, how close is this story to the truth? Well, if it had actually come from Al Sharpton's mouth, it would have more credibility, but considering the sources, it's quite apparently fabricated. People who fabricate things, and tell other people's stories for them should have their access to the mass media cut back accordingly, but apparently, Rush has friends who let him keep on keeping on.
Now regarding Chip Saltsman, the racist CD-mixer, who tries to continue propagating that story... What story is he telling, how close is it to the truth, and why is he telling it?
Here's the story I tell about him, though I would really love to hear it from his own mouth: What story is he telling? That it's OK, in fact it's appropriate, to send around a CD with songs like this, as some token of unity. How close to the truth? Probably not very, except in the limited community who already buys into overt bigotry and propaganda that continues to put it out there. Why does he tell the story? To try and remind/convince himself and others in his group that things are not changing, and that white people are still inherently better.
I would hope that my story is off-base, and welcome a response to tell the real story. Until then, I'd also offer another story for Chip to tell: The story he's telling is that he's out of touch. That naming this act "out of touch" is pretty close to the truth. And that he's telling the story so that someone will come and offer some assistance, so he and his friends can learn to be in right relationship with others beyond their cohort, with others within the cohort, and with themselves, and the stories they tell about themselves.
It would be great if those further along toward building a beloved and harmonious community could just do a magic FTFY for them, but it seems there is still a part of humanity who will choose to (or be unable to do other than) learn this the hard way, and hopefully in the meantime, other people with more consolidational values will gain grounding and connection in the effort to making justice happen.
lyrics: Not from that song!
colors: united
mood: a whole laundry list of stuff to do
chant/prayer/mantra: energy, friends, prayer, dream
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: anti-oppression, media, oppression, politics, racism
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Keith Olbermann on Love and Prop 8
This editorial piece almost brought me to tears.
No matter who you are, if you haven't seen it, it's worth viewing.
peace and love,
joel
No matter who you are, if you haven't seen it, it's worth viewing.
peace and love,
joel
Labels: equal rights, LGBT, media
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Election Politics: Eight recent items I've received via email
Mostly regarding Sarah Palin. Note how she's become a lightning rod to distract attention away from McCain's own issues -- I hope the democrats can get back on track soon, addressing the glaring issues that the McCain campaign is trying to sweep under the rug with her introduction.
Tim Wise, author and racial equity activist, has a great piece regarding how white privilege is coming into obvious play in this election cycle, which can be accessed here, here, here, and many other places. (The comments are an enlightening part of the read, which is why I post the link to this article thrice.) In short, I think he does a great job of exposing white privilege writ large, and I'd love to see a more nuanced follow-up, since there are many other types of privilege coming into play in this election as well.
Long-time women's rights activist Gloria Steinem weighs in.
Minnesota talk show host Garrison Keillor weighs in.
Spiritual guru Deepak Chopra weighs in.
And actor Chevy Chase encourages Tina Fey to go after Ms. Palin with more satire for all she's worth.
Here is a youtube video a few months old that so adroitly exposes that McCain talks out of both sides of his mouth and doesn't even recall what he's said one day to the next, its undeniable. And in a time when the Main Stream Media (MSM) decides not to really get serious about exposing these things, its good to see that this video has over 5 MILLION views. On youtube. 5 MILLION+ viewers.
And finally, McCain gets RickRolled, Obama-style (great editing job, given the likely difficulty of finding footage that fits. For all the problems of the age of photoshop veracities, sometimes, things like this make it almost worth it.
lyrics: Instead of lyrics, here is a brilliant sermon on race by evangelical minister Thabiti Anyabwile. Whether you can deal with, or enjoy, or get past the very strong Christian message, what he has to say about the constructed nature of race is worth your time. "We've organized our identities and our lives based on [a bogus] set of assumptions."
colors: black and white?
mood: need to study, tired of catching up with the "news."
chant/prayer/mantra: together in community -- may it become, and then ever remain so.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: anti-oppression, Christianity, economics, inter-faith, media, oppression, politics, racism
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Currently Studying the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment to the US Constitution
.Just thought I'd note that. It's really astounding to see how the interpretation of those two clauses has evolved over the years, thereby setting precedents that we have to live with. (Actually we don't have to live with them into perpetuity, because of the "redress of grievances" clause, and the likely never-to-be-written "riot clause." And presently of course we do have to live with bad laws and bad interpretations* for now, since the executive branch is actively pursuing some laws as written and interpreted by the other branches.) It's equally astounding to consider the considerations and assumptions that the members of the supreme court turn to when laying down new precedents.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
I understand that being human, its essentially impossible to be non-ideological, though the ideologies of the judges show through fairly clearly when one adds a critical eye to the bright light that gets shined on the procedures and decisions they make. By that, I mean that some start from the assumption that the founding fathers/parents of this country meant to honor freedom of conscience above all else, by creating this document. And others go so far as to start from the assumption that they meant only that the nation could not establish and endorse a religion, and that people were free to go to any religious house they choose.
Further, at this stage, a small and growing group of the justices on the supreme court believe that the laws of this country come first, rather than the freedom of conscience. If the courts are not protecting our freedom of conscience from the tyranny of the majority and from the tyranny of corrupt laws, then who??? The supreme court is a (if not THE) primary vehicle in which the nation's laws can be tried and found to be in error. Here, specifically, I am referring to the Employment Division vs. Smith case, but really, to the whole process. When a judgment is handed down that says, in effect, "Since what this religion is practicing is against the law, and the law was not written specifically to single out out that religion, that religious practice is still against the law. YET for these ideological people (who also happen to have ascended to the very seat of human justice in the US), there is no reason to assume that the government should have to prove why the law is required, or that there is no less constraining legislation that could more justly address the grievance.
In that case, the justices throw true liberty out the window, and are interested in a continuation of laws, putting written legislation and past interpretations above the inherent freedom of decision and action afforded to individuals. After all, as we join together out of a lawless "natural state" of cavepeople into social contracts where we recognize that the government has as one of its major roles that of determining the boundaries of freedom between rights of people against each other, and against the powers ceded to government in exchange for freedom from others' freedoms to. But when government goes bad, it forgets that its powers come from the people, and begins to define the freedoms with greater allowances to some parties than others, in effect breaking the contract with people whose views differ from the majority, thus violating their right to be free to express themselves as they please, as long as they are not imposing unduly on the freedom of expression of others. And yes, there is a line that must be determined there, and determining the line between the freedoms of two different entities is the purpose of courtly jurisprudence, but I would warrant with every fiber of my being that neither the lines being drawn by the the legislation, nor those practiced by the executive branch, nor those interpreted by the judicial branch -- none of those lines are drawn justly, with individuals' rights in the fore of consideration.
That's my thinking.
lyrics: "Clean up your shit, man, before I change my mind." -Beth Wood
colors: white and yellow
mood: studying hard, should be writing the above in a paper
chant/prayer/mantra: focus. focus. focus.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
*just to clarify, while i am certainly critical of the government (as every true patriot should assiduously be), i think that for one to be critical and always partisan against the government is foolish. to me, being critical means to critique and examine something with open eyes, through as diverse a sequence of lenses as one can produce. then to discern the flavor of the thing (or to judge it, if you will).
the government is not all bad. there are good people within, there are bad people within, and there are people who exhibit both good and bad actions. the policies and laws are not all bad or good, nor are there interpretations. and those deciding how to carry out the laws are not all bad or good, but of course "teh george" does seem to be attempting to set a record for the former...
that's why having freedom for honest and open conversation/dialog/trialog/quadralog in our country/world is so important, and why i'm a media reform advocate. the minute a law or interpretation gets written, it starts to decay. if we can critically talk about it, our democracy survives and thrives. those who would hinder that are NOT interested in democracy. EOM.
Labels: coursework, equal rights, freedom versus freedom, media, oppression, our mission, personal religion, politics, theology
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Desalinization, Media-Links Update
Hey there, desalinization is something that has been high on my public priority list for quite some time, so I just thought I'd mention it, and post a link to this article for myself and any other interested parties.
Also, during a read of the first chapter, I'm noting that if it takes ~7000kWh/AF (acre-feet*) of energy to desalinate sea water, that means if 7,500 AF/yr is about 7.16 million gallons/day, another approximation yields 1AF/yr ~~ 1000 gallons/day. This means that to make 1000 gallons per day would take 7000kWh. To make 1 gallon per day would take 7kWh, or the equivalent of 70 100 watt lightbulbs going for an hour. That's not as good as I'd hoped. I'm wondering if my figures are correct. This blurb from the article pretty much affirms my estimates:
*Also after more research on acronymfinder and comparing measures, 1 acre-foot is approximately 325,000 gallons of water, and that's why one acre-foot/year is close to 1000 gallons/day.
Also, I updated my mediareformlinks blog the other day with some good info. Check it if you want to have some good talking points on why media reform is important, or if you want to find out which major corporations own which of the mass media vehicles.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Also, during a read of the first chapter, I'm noting that if it takes ~7000kWh/AF (acre-feet*) of energy to desalinate sea water, that means if 7,500 AF/yr is about 7.16 million gallons/day, another approximation yields 1AF/yr ~~ 1000 gallons/day. This means that to make 1000 gallons per day would take 7000kWh. To make 1 gallon per day would take 7kWh, or the equivalent of 70 100 watt lightbulbs going for an hour. That's not as good as I'd hoped. I'm wondering if my figures are correct. This blurb from the article pretty much affirms my estimates:
For example, an estimated 50 million kWh/yr would be required for full-time operation of the City of Santa Barbara's desalination plant to produce 7,500 AF/yr of water. In contrast, the energy needed to pump 7,500 AF/yr of water from the Colorado River Aqueduct or the State Water Project to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California is 15 to 26 million kWh/yr. These energy requirements may be compared to the energy use of a small- to medium-sized industrial facility (such as a large refinery, small steel mill, or large computer center) which uses 75,000 to 100,000 kWh/yr.In any case, since lots of the places where desalinization could happen are on the ocean coastlines, and many have volcanos and hotsprings, the power for these operations could come from harnessing the tides, and from geothermal....
*Also after more research on acronymfinder and comparing measures, 1 acre-foot is approximately 325,000 gallons of water, and that's why one acre-foot/year is close to 1000 gallons/day.
Also, I updated my mediareformlinks blog the other day with some good info. Check it if you want to have some good talking points on why media reform is important, or if you want to find out which major corporations own which of the mass media vehicles.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: desalinization, media
Saturday, January 5, 2008
The Ongoing Struggle for Housing in New Orleans is Class Warfare
It didn't get all that much news coverage, but there was a police riot in New Orleans because the city council is looking to demolish housing out from under people who have been trying to live there. Here's the story.
How does this affect you and I? Well... These citizens of the United States have been abused by their government (and therefore you and I who allow such governance to continue) in such an ugly way. Many people lost their homes when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, and were offered little to no assistance by any levels of government. In fact, the government has practiced a pattern of working against them, so now there are MANY former residents of New Orleans left homeless in other towns, and many who are trying to get the homes that they rightfully own in New Orleans, but are being fought by the government, who serve the interests of corporate developers and those who wish to gentrify. WHAT IS THEIR METHOD OF RECOURSE? Apparently, nothing short of a riot, because they are not being listened to. Tearing down this low-income housing is only going to increase the number of homeless people. I have talked to some of them in Oakland.
They are being systematically denied access to the basic necessities of life, when housing, food, and clothing CAN be made available without much difficulty (other than proving one could make a PROFIT by doing so). To me, this SCREAMS of class warfare, and is proof-positive evidence that endemic institutionalized racism is thriving in America today. Were it me who was abused like this, without voice in my city hall, without access to my elected representatives, I would be hard-pressed not to want to resort to just about anything, including violence, to be heard. Unfortunately, committing said violence can get one tossed in jail or prison.
Our penitentiaries are already overcrowded with poor people who weren't able to get up to the the bottom rung of the ladder. Our penitentiaries are already overcrowded with young black men who got busted for possessing some amount of marijuana, in our nation's War on Drugs, which is actually a class war, and a war of ideologies. Arresting people in the United States and locking them up is the best method of social control, rather than the more overt military and paramilitary methods our government uses to oppress people in other countries.
How can this be a good thing? It's not. America, when will your people have the freedom you claim they have? Ah, but I digress.
What needs to happen is for people to start talking, and shouting, in public places, demanding to be heard. Start conversations at the bus stop. Make your voices heard in churches. The poor people left to the streets (AND those who care about them) need to get vocal. If your ministers have not been addressing these human-rights issues, interrupt your church service, so people know that it's NOT business-as-usual here in America. God would want you talking.
America (the USA) is not going to get better UNLESS we the people make it better. Don't expect your elite leaders in the white house, the senate, and the supreme court to do it. They've had an opportunity to do so, and at best, they pay it lip service. At worst, they baldly perform acts of injustice and find ways to frame them as if they're just.
You judge a culture by how it treats its poor! The culture is made up of the people, not of the elite in government and in the media. The media may try to portray it a certain way, but that's only because they have the megaphone.
Which brings me to another very important point: What happens when the media all (under)reports something in one way, but the people begin to understand that the truth is something else? Because we in America do not have any method in the mass media* to be critical of the news as (un/under)reported, the raw power of the TV feed creates its own reality that cannot by publicly contested! This is what the Bush Administration folks are talking about when they deride people for being in "the reality-based community." With the power to speak comes the power to shape people's understanding of what is happening, what has been happening, and what can happen. Get your churches talking.
lyrics: "I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes..." - Love Actually
colors: Black and White and Read all over.
mood: Tired of being mad at America. Tired of being part of the problem. Ready to be part of the solution.
chant/prayer/mantra: Let the people hear the people, and may restorative justice rule the day!
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
*The blogosphere and the indymedia.org's on the Internet hardly count, because they don't hold a candle to CNN, MSNBC, etc, and because bandwidth costs money in a way that the UHF/VHF spectrum handed out by the FCC to the major media companies does not.
How does this affect you and I? Well... These citizens of the United States have been abused by their government (and therefore you and I who allow such governance to continue) in such an ugly way. Many people lost their homes when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, and were offered little to no assistance by any levels of government. In fact, the government has practiced a pattern of working against them, so now there are MANY former residents of New Orleans left homeless in other towns, and many who are trying to get the homes that they rightfully own in New Orleans, but are being fought by the government, who serve the interests of corporate developers and those who wish to gentrify. WHAT IS THEIR METHOD OF RECOURSE? Apparently, nothing short of a riot, because they are not being listened to. Tearing down this low-income housing is only going to increase the number of homeless people. I have talked to some of them in Oakland.
They are being systematically denied access to the basic necessities of life, when housing, food, and clothing CAN be made available without much difficulty (other than proving one could make a PROFIT by doing so). To me, this SCREAMS of class warfare, and is proof-positive evidence that endemic institutionalized racism is thriving in America today. Were it me who was abused like this, without voice in my city hall, without access to my elected representatives, I would be hard-pressed not to want to resort to just about anything, including violence, to be heard. Unfortunately, committing said violence can get one tossed in jail or prison.
Our penitentiaries are already overcrowded with poor people who weren't able to get up to the the bottom rung of the ladder. Our penitentiaries are already overcrowded with young black men who got busted for possessing some amount of marijuana, in our nation's War on Drugs, which is actually a class war, and a war of ideologies. Arresting people in the United States and locking them up is the best method of social control, rather than the more overt military and paramilitary methods our government uses to oppress people in other countries.
How can this be a good thing? It's not. America, when will your people have the freedom you claim they have? Ah, but I digress.
What needs to happen is for people to start talking, and shouting, in public places, demanding to be heard. Start conversations at the bus stop. Make your voices heard in churches. The poor people left to the streets (AND those who care about them) need to get vocal. If your ministers have not been addressing these human-rights issues, interrupt your church service, so people know that it's NOT business-as-usual here in America. God would want you talking.
America (the USA) is not going to get better UNLESS we the people make it better. Don't expect your elite leaders in the white house, the senate, and the supreme court to do it. They've had an opportunity to do so, and at best, they pay it lip service. At worst, they baldly perform acts of injustice and find ways to frame them as if they're just.
You judge a culture by how it treats its poor! The culture is made up of the people, not of the elite in government and in the media. The media may try to portray it a certain way, but that's only because they have the megaphone.
Which brings me to another very important point: What happens when the media all (under)reports something in one way, but the people begin to understand that the truth is something else? Because we in America do not have any method in the mass media* to be critical of the news as (un/under)reported, the raw power of the TV feed creates its own reality that cannot by publicly contested! This is what the Bush Administration folks are talking about when they deride people for being in "the reality-based community." With the power to speak comes the power to shape people's understanding of what is happening, what has been happening, and what can happen. Get your churches talking.
lyrics: "I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes..." - Love Actually
colors: Black and White and Read all over.
mood: Tired of being mad at America. Tired of being part of the problem. Ready to be part of the solution.
chant/prayer/mantra: Let the people hear the people, and may restorative justice rule the day!
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
*The blogosphere and the indymedia.org's on the Internet hardly count, because they don't hold a candle to CNN, MSNBC, etc, and because bandwidth costs money in a way that the UHF/VHF spectrum handed out by the FCC to the major media companies does not.
Labels: homelessness, media, oppression, theology
Saturday, October 6, 2007
The Shock Doctrine!
Hi Friends-
Watch this video (thanks to Andy for the link), to gain a better understanding of how and why the United States has evolved over the last 25 years into a fear-based society.
Its sad that the nation's "leaders" would use psychological abuse to get people to kowtow to them, but says boatloads about their collective character.
lyrics: some funky guitar by Beck off of Mutations.
colors: grainy old black and white
mood: outraged
chant/prayer/mantra: may the people of peace speak their piece always, whether invited or not.
pax hominibus,
joel
Watch this video (thanks to Andy for the link), to gain a better understanding of how and why the United States has evolved over the last 25 years into a fear-based society.
Its sad that the nation's "leaders" would use psychological abuse to get people to kowtow to them, but says boatloads about their collective character.
lyrics: some funky guitar by Beck off of Mutations.
colors: grainy old black and white
mood: outraged
chant/prayer/mantra: may the people of peace speak their piece always, whether invited or not.
pax hominibus,
joel
Labels: media, politics, war and peace
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Outdoor Advertising in Sao Paulo, Brazil and in Oakland, USA
In Sao Paolo, over 70% of citizens voted to work against air, water, noise, and visual pollution. That means they're nixing thousands and thousands of billboards.
Meanwhile, in Oakland.... Yesterday, we were driving west across the Bay Bridge, and it was around 7:00 in the evening. The new dynamic LCD-style billboard was SO AMAZINGLY BRIGHT that I had to cover up my rear view mirror with my arm. It was way brighter than any SUV or pickup with its brights would've been. I thought they got that "oops, too bright" issue ironed out. When we came home later that evening, it was less bright again. But it certainly was still outdoor advertising.
I don't care much for commercial advertising, even if some of the proceeds go toward a good cause. My reasons are too complex to go into this morning before I have my coffee.
lyrics: Click and Clack on Car-Talk
colors: yellow, blue, red
mood: sleepy. i woke up in the middle of the night for an hour or two, and had a weird dream shortly before waking up.
chant/prayer/mantra: tell the truth.
pax hominibus,
joel
Meanwhile, in Oakland.... Yesterday, we were driving west across the Bay Bridge, and it was around 7:00 in the evening. The new dynamic LCD-style billboard was SO AMAZINGLY BRIGHT that I had to cover up my rear view mirror with my arm. It was way brighter than any SUV or pickup with its brights would've been. I thought they got that "oops, too bright" issue ironed out. When we came home later that evening, it was less bright again. But it certainly was still outdoor advertising.
I don't care much for commercial advertising, even if some of the proceeds go toward a good cause. My reasons are too complex to go into this morning before I have my coffee.
lyrics: Click and Clack on Car-Talk
colors: yellow, blue, red
mood: sleepy. i woke up in the middle of the night for an hour or two, and had a weird dream shortly before waking up.
chant/prayer/mantra: tell the truth.
pax hominibus,
joel
Labels: Capitalism, dream recollection, media, politics, technology
