Our Earth

Earthquake zones

Hello world...

I was feeling great today until I just heard the breaking news....  A 7.4 magnitude earthquake has hit near the coast of Honshu, Japan!  As a result, yet another tsunami alert has been issued.  *Sigh*  It's so frightening just thinking about it!  My heart goes out to the people in Japan. 

Also, as if that wasn't bad enough, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit Veracruz, Mexico today, though fortunately the reports say nothing major occurred other than buildings swaying for a few minutes (but still, holy cow)!  Oh, and there has been radioactive rain falling in South Korea today as a result of the radioactive fallout from Japan's nuclear disaster after the last earthquake and tsunami there last month.

Anyway, I don't know about you but I'm scared.  Our natural disasters have been getting worse and worse, and that realization takes my mind down a very long and uneasy road of thoughts. 
 

I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge this terrible news and say how bad I feel for the people of Japan and for all the people around the world who have suffered so much in all the disasters of these past few years.  Also, I'd like to say just because I hardly hear about Haiti or the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on the news anymore does not mean I have forgotten!  

I feel as though one of humanity's greatest problems in an age of so much bombarding technology, information, entertainment, and responsibilities is that it's so easy to forget that we are at the mercy of this planet.  It's so convenient to just go on with one's life, in a little bubble.  But I try my best not to do that, I don't want to be indifferent to the world's issues, because the world's issues are all of our issues, and if we aren't going to think or worry about them then who will?  It's our job.  With that said, we should all find ways, however small, to start respecting and preserving our planet better.  

The current growing environmental movement is typically referred to as the "green" movement, or "going green," but please note that this movement has also brought an onslaught of new "green" products created primarily for profit.  I believe that the big companies knew that this movement was going to be the "next big thing," so they produced tons of new products to feed the fetish (see this New York Times Article called "Buying Into the Green Movement") in order to capitalize on what they knew would surely be a frenzy of human consumption in hopes of helping the planet.  Not to be cynical, but in all likelihood that is the truth and many of us are falling into the trap.  So what I'm saying is, don't go out and buy a bunch of green stuff and buy into the fetish, because initially you'll just be negating your efforts to be green by buying and consuming more than what you already have.  First, figure out free ways to work with what you have, learn ways to become a more responsible consumer and disposer.  Once you've picked up on that, I believe it will be easier to make wise choices when shopping for "green" products without going crazy and spending boatloads of money before knowing what works best for you and your lifestyle.  Just because one buys green products does not necessarily mean they are being green and saving the planet, it could just mean you're buying (consuming) more and spending more if you're not smart about it.

It's a a big challenge and it won't be easy, but it behooves all of us.  With that said, below are some links to help you get started....

Going Green.com

A Brief History of the Modern Green Movement in America

Everyday Pollution Solutions

How to Go Green via Tree Hugger.com

10 Ways to Go Green and Save Green via the World Watch Institute 

Our Earth.org

Inspire Bohemia is carbon neutral, are you interested in making your blog carbon neutral too?  Find out what carbon neutral means and how your blog can join the movement at the "Make It Green" Program website.  You can also check out my post on the program: "Inspire Bohemia Goes Carbon Neutral."

(Image of Earthquake zones via PhysicalGeography.net)

Slick

Dark Water - Galactic (mp3)

I am not an environmentalist. I am not Green. I am not someone who values animal rights or plant rights over those of humans who scratched and clawed our way to the top of the food chain.

I don't hunt, but I have no beef with dudes who get off shooting Bambi. I don't fish, but hoorah for dudes who sit out all night, drunk, on a small motorboat, to catch a few bass.

So why is it that someone like me, someone entirely non-leftist about our environment, finds myself beginning to boil with rage about The BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster of 2010?

I'm mad that it took me so goddamn long to get upset about it. I'm mad that I'm in a very large majority of equally-apathetic people.

It's been five years since Katrina, when all of us discovered the ineptitude of the Bush Administration.

Five years later, our entire country has turned into the Bush Administration, where we're all slow to give a shit and even slower to react and do anything about it. It's like we were all out on our verandas, sipping mint juleps and wearing critter pants, our sweaters tied around our shoulders, when our butler walks out and informs us that our son is strung out on heroin in the pool house. And our collective response, as the citizens of the Greatest Country In The World is: "Meh." And then we go back to checking on our 401k mutual funds and scheduling our next pedicures. Our son will be fine. He's just going through a phase.

What the hell's the matter with us? And why does it feel like our collective lack of vitriol -- or anything beyond a symbolic grimace and flashing look of concern, really -- might well be the real beginnings of our own Fall of Rome?

Raise taxes, and by God you'll get the wrath of every red-blooded red state redneck this side of the Canadian border. Show pictures of a Mexican-looking man getting treated in an ER at cost to taxpayers, and you'll enrage more than a fifth of our national population. Say the word "evolution" or "abortion," and you'll have self-righteous people marching all over your ass until it's jello.

But say "bigger environmental disaster than Exxon Valdez," and people kinda shrug and say "tsk tsk that's a shame" and then go back to working on that bugger of a Sudoku puzzle.

On the larger scale of politics and news, I totally get why no one is stoking this fire.

A Democratic "Socialist" President attempted to mollify Republicans by announcing an expansion of drilling in the Gulf. Republicans love oil, and they love drilling, so the absolute last thing they want is to spend energy making Obama look too bad. Hell, it's easier to find a politician beyond Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to criticize Obama on his choice of shampoo than it is to find one who will go on record questioning this crisis.

The left, meanwhile, is scared to complain too much, because the mood of their voting bloc is already dubious enough, and scaring away too many voters by excoriating their leader could lead to more talk about crap like "Tea Party mandates."

So no politicians want to complain. And BP is so intertwined up our government's ass, that we can't really be too mean to BP without causing serious problems for the fuel needs and costs of our beloved Pentagon. There aren't many other big corporations out there dying to throw stones at BP, either, because those skyscraper headquarters are still mostly made of glass.

And the six large news corporations remaining only seem capable of doing compelling stories on Jesse James or the Salahis. Anything that gets us too worked up risks motivating us to get our asses off the couch. Which kills ratings. Which kills ad revenue. Which is dying fast enough as it is, thank you very much. They need to keep us on that couch.

This isn't a conspiracy. It's a collective, shared, desperate desire to keep us from giving too much of a shit. And it's working because we're complicit in it. We the citizens of the United States in the 21st Century are desperate to do as little as possible. Sure, we'll give some money. Just make it easy for us.

We'll happily text five little numbers to give $10 to Red Cross, and then we'll congratulate ourselves like we're the next Nelson Rockefeller 'cuz we're so damned charitable. But if you ask us to get off our couches and kick in to the effort? If you ask us for any kind of personal sacrifice for the betterment of our environment or our children or our country's fiscal health? Bugger off already. The NBA playoffs are on!

Here's my peeps on Morning Joe talking about it. And, even though Mika and Joe sound like they don't really know what they're talking about towards the end, it's just nice to see 'em getting worked up about it.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Seriously, America

Neil Young and Crazy Horse--"Be The Rain" (mp3)

Sitting here with nothing to do, wishing I was watching the finale of 24 but not wanting to wade/wait through those commercials (I'll see it on fancast.com tonight), I have been picking out the last remaining nuts from a jar of Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts. And now, they are all gone, except for those last few that I don't want to eat because I don't want that handful of salt that will go with them.

But, that's beside the point. What's really on my mind is the large, heavy glass jar they came in.

And now that they're gone, the incredible, unnecessary waste of it. I bought a pound of peanuts; the jar that they came in weighs 14 ounces.

Seriously, America, I don't think we're getting it. I don't think we're figuring out waste and excess and reusing and cutting back and making do. Yeah, I know we're cutting some corners financially, maybe not eating out as much or buying some things we might like to have, but the increasing scarity of the world's resources? I don't think we get that at all.

Take me. Take that jar. For 18 of the last 20 years, I chuck that thing in the garbage and don't give it another thought. For the last two years, we've "kind of gotten into recycling" (italics mine, because the phrasing clarifies the commitment), but if we weren't "into it," I'd still be chucking that thing in the trash. Like a lot of other people still are.

Oh, I'm not playing high and mighty, believe me. I don't really know why we're recycling. I mean, I know it's a good thing to do, but I haven't felt a mandate, no one has asked me to do it, either locally or nationally, no government campaign or presidential plea has come my way, no public service ad campaign has caught my attention. I think we really just got tired of throwing so much shit away. We're kind alone on some kind of recycling island, as many of you are, I'm sure. We're blind virtue.

In the late 70's, when a president suggested that we turn down our thermostats and put on a sweater in the winter, he was ridiculed. Two years ago, when a presidential candidate talked about efficient light bulbs and other little things everyone could do, he was ridiculed.

Sadly, both caved to that ridicule and dropped the issue.

And now, here we are. It's 2010, and most restaurants giving to-go cups are using styrofoam. What? In 2010? You can't recycle styrofoam. Styrofoam takes longer to biodegrade than a Twinkie, for God's sakes!

Now, I certainly don't want to argue that Europe has got it all figured out. Not when their daily financial fears are dragging down my 401k. But if I bought those peanuts in Europe, say France or Italy, since those are the only places I've been, those peanuts would not be in a heavy glass jar.

First of all, the portion wouldn't be even half as large. And probably wouldn't contain MSG or whatever is in those damn things that makes them impossible to stop eating (while your brain sends you contradictory messages: a) "Nuts are good for you," and b) "Why does my head feel like it's swelling from a salt overdose?") Second, there would be some kind of fresh nuts that you could buy on the street somewhere. And, finally, they would come in some kind of light, unassuming cellophane wrapping. Not that cellophane is God's gift to the earth.

But still, window dressing aside, America does not seem at all to be on a mission to save itself environmentally. Al Gore has figured out how to make a lot of money from it. Madison Avenue learned that "green" sells products. Hell, even the Fox networks have gotten into the game, promoting "green" this and "green" that, and you know those bastards are marching to the drum beat that says man-made global warming is an impossibility.

As for my family's recycling empire? I grade us no better than a B-. That's a grade that would send any self-respecting private school student into a teacher's office to grub for a higher grade. And I think we're pretty committed. We've done a good job at sticking with something I didn't think we'd stick with. But come any time that we're putting on a party or simply get too overwhelmed and backed up, we just bag it all up and throw it out, vowing to do better next time.

No, we're all still consumers first, and everyone, from our own government to the world's other interdependent economies, wants us to to be consumers first. So that when we buy our peanuts, we not only support the nut roasters, we support the glass jar maker, the plastic lid maker, the label maker, the boxmaker, the grocery store, and, a little bit, some sorryass farmer who grew the things in the first place--for peanuts.

"Be The Rain" comes from the underappreciated cd/novel Greendale, available at amazon.com.

Happy Earth Day.... let's wake up!

Happy Earth Day!

Today is April 22, 2010 and it marks the 40th year since Earth Day was formed by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin back in 1970. Senator Nelson held an environmental teach-in on Earth Day 1970 in order to raise concern over our environmental crisis and spur action. According to Wikipedia, Earth Day Network says this day is celebrated in nearly all countries of the world....

Unfortunately, I am not quite sure that is what all of humanity has taken from Earth Day.... At least not big business, which has done the same to Earth Day as to all the other holidays, smear its integrity and hinder its goal with the lure of consumerism! The fact that this day has been exploited by companies in order to make money is a crystal clear example of counterproductive forces working against the true meaning and objective of Earth Day itself. On that note, I read a good article this morning on the New York Times website called At 40, Earth Day Is Now Big Business that talks about this very issue and contains a quote by Robert Stone, an independent documentary filmmaker, that really stood out to me as an important point regarding Earth Day and that's that “Every Earth Day is a reflection of where we are as a culture,...If it has become commoditized, about green consumerism instead of systemic change, then it is a reflection of our society.” Check out that article!

Hopefully all these recent disasters and the the growing urgency for global change will prevail, it's up to each and every one of us to help make that happen. Ignorance is bliss, but it's only bliss for the ignorant because it creates endless troubles for the rest of us! Information is power, help spread it wide and far!

Anyway, I took pictures of this beautiful day on my way to work this morning... The weather is gorgeous, the sky is robin egg blue, amazing yellow flowers have bloomed on all of the trees lining US1, it's beautiful - check out my pictures below! With that said, let me tell ya, it's a crying shame that I couldn't keep driving right on past my job into oblivion, wind whipping through my hair and classic rock oldies blasting... hopefully Jimi or The Beatles or Janis... hmmm... What a splendid idea! If only... :)

Enjoy your day and appreciate Mother Earth!

Much Love,
Catherine
xoxo

"Green" is Sooooo the New "Christian"!

Mother Earth is a Vicious Crowd - Live (mp3)
Green Means Go - The Color Wheels (mp3)

I was driving back from my near-daily coffee run Monday when I saw a billboard that read: "Fairway. Thinking Green." (Fairway is the name of the ad company that owns the billboard.) Then that night I read about Dominos Pizza using "GreenGraffiti" to advertise. They're using pressure washers to etch their ads into nasty grimy sidewalks.

Here's what I worry about.

When "Green" becomes a marketing ploy, when "Green" describes a friggin' billboard, when "Green" becomes an easy adjective that people like me can use to describe themselves simply 'cuz we recycle or ride long distances without our A/C running... then "Green" becomes this whole pathetic color spectrum that includes shit like "teal" and "pear" and "myrtle," all these colors that are desperately trying to be green but aren't quite, like when my younger daughter has to stand on her tip-toes a little in order to cross that You Must Be Taller Than 48" To Ride This Ride line. Yeah, she's taller than that line, but she's fudging, and she knows it, and I know it, and the goober letting her on the ride knows it.

The same thing kinda happened with "Christian" over the last 40 years. Maybe it's been longer, but I've seen it since I've been alive. I mostly blame it on Falwell and his Moral Majority movement, wielding a word intended to embrace and welcome a wide swath of humanity and using it to slice and separate and pare down until by the 21st Century, the word has become divisive and unappealing. "Christian," to most people, now stands for the very things the word should never ever stand for: ignorance, prejudice, selfishness, greed.

Heck, in Chattanooga, you now see businesses that use the little "Christian Fish" or cross on their signs. As if to say, "Jesus shops here!" Far too few people were terribly surprised when a local business that plastered the Jesus Fish all over everything got busted for a variety of shady practices.

For all you Christians out there, if it's news to you that a key descriptor of who you are has been hijacked and now has a meaning that's out of your control and more negative than positive, you'd best sit back and stop being defensive about it. Stop listening to "Onward Christian Soldiers" and stop allowing people who say we're engaged in "a war for Jesus" and who love that country song about how we avenged 9/11 to totally annihilate a word that should stand for better things.

But back to being Green.

You environmentalist types, you'd best take note. Y'all are probably getting the warm fuzzies because everyone's talking "Green" and promoting "Green" and acting like we're just Greening the hell out of our lovely planet, but guess what? Barring a level of change that I am cynically resigned to accept will never happen, our planet is on an irreversibly dire change of climate. Or at least that's what one of the biggest and most knowledgeable expert on the subject seems to think. But what does he know, other than having predicted the future more accurately than Nostra-fucking-damus?

Recycle. Replace your old GE bulbs with compact flourescents. Drive a Prius. None of this matters if China and India are firing up more coal plants than we can count. I'm sorry, but the concept of "Do Your Part" ain't gonna cut it with our environment. The Butterfly Effect ain't gonna fix our atmosphere. But, as poor schlep Jake says to that mesmerizing minx Rhett in The Sun Also Rises, "Wouldn't it be pretty to think so?"

And maybe your response is similar to mine: "If pitching in and doing the little things don't help, then what exactly am I supposed to do about it?"

How about you start with taking just a few minutes to READ THIS... yeah, it's long. Yeah, it's in GQ. Just go read it already.

Maybe G.I. Joe was right, and maybe knowing is half the battle. So maybe we just need to do more to KNOW. And friggin' fast, before we hand over a hot coal of a planet to our grandchildren.