QwertyU Digest

Ted and Dave rock green.

2006-09-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

Ted Turner on Letterman talking Sustainability

On an integral note, it looks pretty clean. Well done guys.

Green Ted Turner on Letterman

2006-09-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

a spirally elegant message...

Why "the market" alone can't save local agriculture | By Tom Philpott | Grist Magazine | Victual Reality | 16 Aug 2006

2006-08-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

Why "the market" alone can't save local agriculture | By Tom Philpott | Grist Magazine | Victual Reality | 16 Aug 2006: "The USDA reckons that farmers' markets account for less than 2 percent of the more than $70 billion Americans spend on produce. And, as I've pointed out before, the overall income picture for small commercial farms is dismal. Key USDA stat: Farms with annual revenues between $10,000 and $99,000 -- which describes the vast majority of farmers' market vendors -- have an average operating profit margin of negative 24.5 percent.

Simply put, small farms lose money, and their losses are financed by the off-farm incomes of the families that run them. From this angle, so-called sustainable farming looks like a precarious enterprise.

Why, then, do farmers' markets and CSAs continue to grow and multiply? Why do people still farm? The local-food revival, it seems to me, runs on passion: people's desire for connection to the seasons, to the soil that feeds them, to powerful flavors that can't be manufactured with chemicals or preserved over 1,300-mile delivery hauls."

The environmental costs of green energy: Biofuels | The Green Geek

2006-08-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

The environmental costs of green energy: Biofuels | The Green Geek: "Currently biofuel gasoline blends provide a slight reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle exhaust, and can help a percentage of the population to reduce their oil consumption. It’s possible that algae biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol processes will become efficient enough to be viable, but until then the main focus for biofuels, a replacement for gasoline and diesel, isn’t nearly as ‘green’ (or as realistic) as many people believe."

Bureaucracies chew people and their reputations up. It's just what they do.

2006-08-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

27B Stroke 6: " Ms. Arnold says she loves online research, but the disclosure of her searches has left her disillusioned. In response, she plans to drop her AOL subscription. 'We all have a right to privacy,' she said. 'Nobody should have found this all out.'

The web is already chiming with the choruses of the faithful singing the old refrain, 'If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.'

If you truly believe that, may I suggest removing the curtains from your house and depositing a house key and an affidavit to the local police certifying that you consent to a search of your house and papers at any time."

27B Stroke 6

2006-08-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

27B Stroke 6: "The president says this should be a stark reminder that we are 'at war with Islamic fascists.'

It would be more accurate to say that we are in an ideological and Fourth Generation conflict with Islamic religious fanatics who cultivate supporters and martyrs by exploiting legitimate grievances.

But why be precise, when you can opt for misleading tough-guy talk?

Thanks to the dedicated British intelligence units who caught these would-be martyrs, but I'm also surprised that the U.S. military didn't catch these guys while on routine patrol in the streets of Baghdad.

I mean Iraq is the central battleground of the 'war on terrorism,' isn't it?"

Green: The Next Big Thing

2006-05-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

Green: The Next Big Thing: "There will be an enormous amount of new [green] technology, new wealth, and we are trying to create the Googles, the Microsoft (MSFT )s of the new era. [Even] the garbage stream has a high value."

hemp on Daryll Hannah's video blog

2006-05-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

For all that I disagree with Darryl Hannah's over-emphasis on Bio-Diesel as a solution to the energy crisis, I do appreciate her creative use of her notoriety to be a proponent of things green. Here is her new video blog (one of the first professional production presentations-read polished-of the medium I have seen).

This episode is a great intro into the wonders of hemp. What I learned: hemp's versatility to extreme climates, growing conditions and weather events. What I took from that: A versatile food, fiber, and fuel source that is adaptable to changing weather conditions... can hemp save the world DH?

see also: http://votehemp.com

dhlovelife.com

The Great “Incompetency” Heist

2006-05-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

This is a concise and insightful take on global events. Read it.

The Catherine Austin Fitts Blog � The Great “Incompetency” Heist: "Failed policies and government incompetence are “spin.” Don’t fall for them. We are watching an epic transfer of wealth and a coup d’etat — a fundamental reordering of global and national institutions that has been intentionally planned and executed.

The big financial question hanging out there is whether or not the events in and around Iran in the coming months will resolve themselves in terms of a bounce in the dollar and a significant drop in the gold price, or will the rise of precious metals and the fall of the dollar continue. There is no way to know. I believe it is possible to spend full time trying to understand events and still not have the reliable information we need to make an educated guess.

My advice is to be prepared to live with significant volatility either way and stay focused on building financially intimate wealth according to long term fundamentals.Ultimately we all need to be good at predator evasion. Other than knowing when to duck, it is wise not to spend too much time trying to figure out what the Tapeworm is up to. Tracking the destruction of wealth ultimately detracts where our focus should be — on withdrawing our resources from the Tapeworm’s control and investing them in financially intimate ways in a manner that shifts the game entirely."

Treehugger: Gorbachev Sounds Off on Nuclear vs Renewables

2006-04-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

Treehugger: Gorbachev Sounds Off on Nuclear vs Renewables

Life in the Green Lane - New York Times

2006-04-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

Example of how the proposed solution is often a contribution to the problem one is addressing. This is systems theory and LifeCycle assessments (LCA) put to economy and ecology. Here on the op-ed page of the NYT, a realization I heard Richard Heinberg speak years ago is illustrated: The Prius may actually exacerbate the energy issue--which is actually an ecosystem dilemma.

Life in the Green Lane - New York Times

Consulting... deep in the weeds: $10,000 is the magic number

2006-04-12T23:46:00.000-07:00

its funny cause ITs true.

Consulting... deep in the weeds: $10,000 is the magic number: "If many businesses approached space planning the way that they approached web sites their staff would be sitting on milk crates in an unheated concrete room and sales people would meet with customers at the Greyhound Station."

Treehugger: Perfect Gasoline Storm

2006-04-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

Treehugger: Perfect Gasoline Storm: "It is not possible to turn enough of the fleet over to hybrids and ultra efficient small cars to make difference in the short term toward lowering the national gasoline consumption rate....

Much of what we promote on TreeHugger will be relegated to 'background noise' if gasoline prices toss into the air the assumed constants of American life-style. However, several positive outcomes are likely.

* All locally produced goods, and especially food, will become increasingly cost competitive.
* Bicycle sales and related services will skyrocket.
* Motor cycle and scooter use will become more common during the warm months.
* Developers will gravitate to the higher density 'live/work/play' planned community models.
* Traffic congestion will be mitigated as carpooling and errand sharing become more commonplace.
* Cynicism toward alternative designs and life styles will be reduced.

"

Falls Church News-Press

2006-04-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

Falls Church News-Press: "At the top of the list of problems coming with the peaking of world oil production are all manner of economic troubles. Optimistic students of peak oil say, at best, we are going to have a great depression lasting a couple of decades. Pessimists write of much worse. The bottom line is the good times much of the world has enjoyed for the last sixty years will not last long.

Start with the innumerable personal decisions you make every day. Is your job likely to be an early casualty of rising gasoline prices? If you make or sell SUVs, the answer is easy. If your job depends on people's discretionary spending— be wary. The polls tell us people will spend close to their last discretionary dollar on gasoline before giving up driving their beloved and 'essential' cars. Thinking of buying or selling a home? The housing situation, particularly in the US , is going to be markedly different in a few years.

If, however, you are a farmer (and not many of us are anymore), you may be on the verge of the golden age. Chances are the world's farmers are going to be mighty busy growing plants that can be converted into liquid fuels as well as food. The golden age for some could start as early as this summer when large quantities of surplus corn are converted into ethanol for use as a pollution reducing gasoline additive. On the other hand, it seems some major droughts are shaping up across the world, possibly even in the US , so the golden age of farming may be delayed for awhile."

Clean Edge - The Clean-Tech Market Authority - News

2006-04-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

Clean Edge - The Clean-Tech Market Authority - News: "The competition encourages professionals and students throughout the state to submit proposals and compete for prizes in five categories: California Investor Owned Utilities Energy Efficiency Prize, AMD Smart Power Prize, Lexus Transportation Prize, Agora Foundation Water Management Prize, and the Renewable Energy Prize, which has yet to be named. Judges selected from an elite panel of experts— including venture capitalists, researchers and faculty from the state’s leading universities and research laboratories and leading industrialists from related sectors—will select a winner in each category and an overall winner."

Treehugger: Fuel Cell Powered Trains on the Rails In Japan

2006-04-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

Treehugger: Fuel Cell Powered Trains on the Rails In Japan

Democracy Now! | Noam Chomsky on Iraq Troop Withdrawal, Haiti, Democracy in Latin America and the Israeli Elections

2006-04-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

brilliant, as usual.

Democracy Now! | Noam Chomsky on Iraq Troop Withdrawal, Haiti, Democracy in Latin America and the Israeli Elections: " They do -- the Times reported the anguish of the settlers that’ll have to leave. I mean, it’s kind of as if the reporting has been -- as if, say, you know, I broke into your house, took over the whole house, finally agreed -- tortured you, you know, stole everything from you and so on, and then agreed to leave you the attic and the cellar, but keep the rest of the house. And it’s -- I do that with great anguish, because I don't want to leave the attic. I kind of liked it. I mean, that's the way it’s being reported. It’s scandalous.

AMY GOODMAN: Noam Chomsky, world renowned linguist, political analyst, on the publication of his new book, Failed States."

Peak Oil-Falls Church News-Press

2006-04-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

Falls Church News-Press

Howard Zinn-America's Blinders

2006-04-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

America's Blinders

Resource Investor - Books - An Absurd Balance

2006-04-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

Resource Investor - Books - An Absurd Balance

Treehugger: Conphorm Bags - Topological Wonders

2006-04-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

A great illustration of Green Design, and some cool bags.

Treehugger: Conphorm Bags - Topological Wonders

Textiles, 2.0

2006-04-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Formerly "Hemptown", now "NAT"

~ NAT - Naturally Advanced Technologies ~

Salon.com | Climate of hope

2006-04-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

Great article. The US should wake up immediately and pay attention to the twin realities of climate change and oil decline and invest heavily in solar. Regardless of what you believe from Economics 101, government stimulation is the only thing that launches new industry. Cars? Who build the roads that allowed their use? Computers and electronics? Ever heard of a couple of R&D firms called NASA and the DoD? Agri-business? Government subsidy anyone?

The reason we have yet to invest in sustainable technologies is not economic or a question of feasability, it is purely political. The pockets that are already deep want to make sure the liberating potential of renewables does not begin to compete with their vested interests. They own the lobbyists, and hence, the politicans. 22MPG, when will America WTFU out of this marketing induced trance?

Salon.com | Climate of hope

Hybrids Consume More Energy in Lifetime Than Chevrolet's Tahoe SUV: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

2006-04-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

This seems like an SUV marketing gimmick, but it also speaks to a point that I heard Richard Heinberg make years ago: if you are concerned with overall energy in the system, the most responsible thing you can do is continue to drive your old car.

Hybrids Consume More Energy in Lifetime Than Chevrolet's Tahoe SUV: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance: "'If a consumer is concerned about fuel economy because of family budgets or depleting oil supplies, it is perfectly logical to consider buying high- fuel-economy vehicles,' says Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research, Inc. 'But if the concern is the broader issues such as environmental impact of energy usage, some high-mileage vehicles actually cost society more than conventional or even larger models over their lifetime.

'We believe this kind of data is important in a consumer's selection of transportation,' says Spinella. 'Basing purchase decisions solely on fuel economy or vehicle size does not get to the heart of the energy usage issue.'"

EMPIRE OF DEBT: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis

2006-04-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

Resource Investor - Books - An Absurd Balance: "'My tax guy has been bugging me... You know, real estate is where it is at.' In June 2005, NBC quoted a young woman who had bought a second home at a Colorado resort. According to the report, more than a third of the houses sold in the previous 12 months were not primary residences, but second homes or investments.

Down at the bottom of the pyramid are petty agents spreading deceit and misinformation - such as the aforementioned 'tax guy.' You would think a young woman could trust her certified tax advisor to give her sound counsel. Instead, he urges her to speculate on the most bubbly property market in American history. Naturally, she went for it, aided no doubt by a whole industry of professional dissemblers. Press reports tell us that appraisers routinely stretch valuations to help close a deal. Mortgage lenders know perfectly well the appraisals are lies, but they wink at them with one eye while winking at the borrowers phony income declaration with the other. Again, according to the press reports, lenders no longer verify income claims. They have gone blind!

In California, house prices have raced so far ahead of incomes that barely one in ten buyers can afford the median house. Yet thanks to 'creative finance,' more houses are being sold than ever before.

"