Zen Midlife Crisis

motherjones: washingtonpoststyle: Hillary Clinton rejected —...

Tue, 01 May 2012 02:16:39 -0500

washingtonpoststyle:

Hillary Clinton rejected — via a personal letter — Jason Segel’s offer to star in a movie with him, according to Politico.

This, obviously, is a great letter, but that font: It does not become a madame secretary.

Letters from Hillary.

San Francisco Democratic Party tells Obama to end crackdown on medical marijuana

Tue, 01 May 2012 02:07:55 -0500

San Francisco Democratic Party tells Obama to end crackdown on medical marijuana:

sinidentidades:

The San Francisco Democratic Party issued a resolution this week calling on President Barack Obama and his administration to end their crackdown on medical marijuana facilities.

The resolution, signed by 21 members of the party’s Central Committee (DCCC), calls on Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag to “cease all Federal actions in San Francisco immediately, respect State and local laws, and stop the closure of City-permitted medical cannabis facilities.”

The Obama administration has been very active in raiding medical marijuana facilities in San Francisco, with five places forced to close due to the federal government’s crackdown. The owners of those facilities were threatened with federal criminal prosecution and asset forfeiture despite being certified.

“The U. S. Attorneys in California are not targeting individuals and organizations that are operating outside of the law, but instead are aggressively persecuting a peaceful and regulated community, wasting Federal resources in using a series of threatening tactics to shut down regulated access to medical cannabis across the state of California,” the resolution says.

In an interview released earlier this week inRolling Stone magazine, Obama claimed that “there haven’t been any prosecutions” of medical marijuana patients, but that hasn’t impressed Americans for Safe Access Executive Director Steph Sherer.

“With a highly contentious bid for the White House, Obama should think twice about being out of step with his party and the 80 percent of Americans who support safe and legal access to medical marijuana,” she said.

I am Trickster: The Wolf and the Raven

Tue, 01 May 2012 02:07:16 -0500

I am Trickster: The Wolf and the Raven:

thetricksterisme:

There once was a girl who thought herself a wolf.
She taught herself to walk on all fours
She loved her meat red
She removed her self outside of doors
She slept with stars above her head

There was once a boy who thought himself a raven.
He climbed a tree and made a nest
He loved pretty things
He…

"The killing of U.S. troops by their ostensible allies in the Afghan military now make up 20 percent..."

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:14:41 -0500

“The killing of U.S. troops by their ostensible allies in the Afghan military now make up 20 percent of all the U.S. combat deaths this year. Somehow, though, we never hear that the Afghan soldier who turns his gun on a U.S. soldier has “snapped” – that maybe he has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), that maybe he was so enraged because he saw his baby daughter killed in a drone strike the night before and he lost control. No, we only hear that “the Taliban must have infiltrated” the Afghan army or police. PTSD is apparently only for trained soldiers on our side. Except that in a 2009 UN-backed survey, the Afghan government’s own Ministry of Health estimated that 66 percent – a full two-thirds – of the Afghan population, suffers from a variety of mental illnesses, most of them stress-related and including PTSD.”

- Phyllis Bennis

those 2/3 of Afghans – something like 20 million people – face PTSD or other mental disorders with only FORTY-TWO psychiatrists and psychologists in the entire country.

(via theamericanbear)

Photo

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:05:26 -0500

everyartistwasfirstanamateur: My future piece of crud? (:...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:26:26 -0600

everyartistwasfirstanamateur:

My future piece of crud? (: yeeeee buddy

Photo

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:08:40 -0600

Photo

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:17:22 -0600

Living locally, globally, sustainably?

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:51:48 -0600

This will seem a radical idea to many, I’m sure, but…maybe it’s time for us to start promoting the idea of eating locally to a different level. Rather than trying to get more people to buy locally, maybe we need to look at what various environments and neighborhoods can support, population-wise.

There are many ecologically important areas all over the world that can not support the numbers of people living and multiplying near and in them. These individuals are manytimes forced by hunger to consume dwindling numbers of endangered animals and plants. They have no choice - they are trying not to starve. There are only so many possible opportunities to support their families in these areas, many of them ecologically contraindicated, such as palm oil farming, which encroaches upon the forests needed to sustain the endangered wildlife within, and brings humankind and wildlife ever closer to one another, mostly with fatal results for the wildlife.

Even our big cities in the US are not self-sustainable. If there were a disruption in distribution of food, people in cities would quickly find themselves with very few options other than to leave to someplace where they could hope to grow or hunt their own food.

Population control is a hot button topic. No one wants to force contraception, as the Chinese do with their one child policy, but the plain facts are, we as a race have grown to the point where we either need to start limiting our reproduction, or start seeing more and more famine arise around the world. The earth simply can not support our unfettered growth.

That is why I would support a study of the earth’s locations, to show us exactly what our immediate environments can support, in terms of population. The way we currently live is not compatible with a sustainable mode of life. Once we have a better idea of what our neighborhoods all over the earth can support sustainably, then maybe we can begin to come up with plans to preserve those portions of the earth that we have not already consumed.

everyartistwasfirstanamateur: Taken with instagram

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:26:13 -0600

everyartistwasfirstanamateur:

Taken with instagram

pesky: So Dad, when can I go surfing? by PacoAlcantara on...

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:49:26 -0600

pesky:

So Dad, when can I go surfing?

by PacoAlcantara on Flickr.

welovethale: Alte Kabinen fahren zum Hexentanzplatz und wieder...

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:57:50 -0600

welovethale:

Alte Kabinen fahren zum Hexentanzplatz und wieder zurück

welovethale: der Hirschgrund im Winterblues

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:57:19 -0600

welovethale:

der Hirschgrund im Winterblues

Photo

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:54:53 -0600

futurejournalismproject: Orangutans, With iPads The BBC writes...

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:47:53 -0600

futurejournalismproject:

Orangutans, With iPads

The BBC writes of an experiment at the Milwaukee zoo where orangutans are given access to iPads so that they use basic drawing apps, and kick back and watch some primate video.

The next goal is to wire the zoo and have the orangutans video chat with others elsewhere.

Via the BBC:

“Orangutans love looking at each other,” said [conservationist Richard] Zimmerman, adding that one of the apes, 31-year-old MJ, is a fan of David Attenborough programmes.

“The orangutans loved seeing videos of themselves - so there is a little vanity going on - and they like seeing videos of the orangutans who are in the other end of the enclosure.

“So if we incorporate cameras, they can watch each other.”

Other centres, zoos and sanctuaries are said to want to get involved “immediately” and are just waiting for more devices to become available.

“We’ve been limited to Milwaukee because we haven’t been able to get enough iPads,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“We’ve been waiting for the iPad 3 to come out to make the iPad 1 really obsolete, so we can pick up a few.

Image: An orangutan, with an iPad, via ExtremeTech

wrists: (by fivefortyfive)

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:44:51 -0600

wrists:

(by fivefortyfive)

theanimalblog: (via National Geographic)

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:42:20 -0600

theanimalblog:

(via National Geographic)

Nom, nom, nom…

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:11:54 -0600

Nom, nom, nom…

Photo

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:55:02 -0600

Photo

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:22:19 -0600