Good news for people who love...

Life is always a little better when you have friends in the world, so do something nice for them and keep your eyes open to opportunities for more. For the special friend I say, thanks for trusting your heart...

So it seems what ever pressure was applied to the NFS was enough, an independent study will be done for spotted owl recovery. Read the Oregonian article here.

On the zero emission auto front it seems another player in the "convert your gas guzzler to a plug in" angle has sprung up. I posted something about Left Coast Conversions 6 months ago that does it for half the price of the new player called, Hybrid Technologies. They do it more like an option when you purchase your car as opposed to Left coast that does it more after market style. Either way it's just a matter of time before mechanic entrepreneurs see the niche and train themselves, driving the price down. Read more here.

Big changes in the federal house of rep's dining options including organic and healthy fare. Way to do something that matters to palate and planet

And lastly a little something that needs our attention. Senator blah blah blah from New Mexico has tried once again to slip in, check this pork, loan guarantees for nuclear power plants that we won't need to begin with. So write or call your Sentor and tell them to remove the loan guarantees from the appropriations bill, while your at it tell them you don't want any more Nuclear power plants and wish instead to see de-centralization of electricity generation and $ put into re-vamping the power grid to ease the transition to energy freedom. Read an article about it here

There is plenty of more news out there and more we need to do than just this but if you get bored after your senator call, be creative, make something pretty or tasty and take a deep breath of your freedom wile you still have it.

Thanks and have a great moment...

Hello I love You...

Here's a little something worth watching super veggie band

Here's a telling blip of news; Dubai based, Al Yousuf Group, with major car dealership branches all over the Arabian peninsula, bought $5 million worth of shares in Zap, an electric car company. Seems that the oil rich are also Sun rich and that works well with solar generation and plug in vehicles. Read more here.
On a side note, ZAP's battery research arm achieved 150 miles on a single charge with Lithium Ion batteries last week.

Here
is a great song for anyone who loves good music, thanks to
Can you see the sunset from the southside for digging out another gem from the ethers.

Now of course there are many more important things happening in the world and I don't have time to post them. So I leave you with the most important one, in my opinion, being here and being awake. Sounds like mumbo jumbo fuffu shit for sure but in a world full of everyone thinking about their short list, the collective long list ought to be contemplated and a better world visualized. This is most effective when you are fully present, body breathes, body has a posture, just observe it, now go from here!

Thanks again and may the force be with you...

Rise and Shine, it's Cabbage Time!

Greetings from the sleepy land.

Old Kentucky has a great band called Everything Now here. definitely worth a listen

Something for balloon popping enthusiasts and skaters alike Here

I finally got to drive an electric car last weekend. A good tihing considering my heavy posting on the matter.

One more little ditty. I watched a movie this summer that has some very salient points but needs to be watched until the very last frame or it will leave with nightmares. SOme of the begining is uneccessary but you should watch thins when you have an hour zeitgeist

Thats all for now folks. Cabbage season is in full swing.

Why are we so stupid?

While it seems obvious to me that Nuclear power is no longer necessary, was it ever a realistic option? It has been reported the nuclear regulatory body here in the USA is expecting some 30 applications for new generating facilities by the end of 2008. These come with huge tax breaks thanks to the piece of crap they called an energy bill a couple years ago. All I see is a bunch of pigs at the feeding trough trying to lock in deals worth billions before the obvious is part of the national conversation,

THAT WE DON'T NEED THAT MUCH CENTRALIZED POWER GENERATION WITH ALL THE CHANGES HERE NOW AND COMING IN THE ENERGY AND TRANSMISSION GRID LANDSCAPE.

If you care to voice your thoughts contact the Regulatory Commission NRC and your congressunit to tell them you don't want nuclear waste material around for 10,000 plus years when solar, battery and high efficiency technology are so on the brink.


In that same vein, more states are moving towards de-coupling their electricity generators. This allows utilities and providers much more lee-way in a good way. Read about it here. The final verdict isn't in on de-coupling but it seems if it's structured with rate payers and overall efficiency in mind, good things.

And...

The Big Apple will enjoy a brighter apple this new year's eve while consuming half the electricity of previous ones thanks to LED lighting technology. Something tells me New Yorkers will figure out a way to use it anyway, and I'm cool with that. New York has free pass on everything in my book. Keep it alive and kicking for the rest of us!

Imagine if every apt. and house in the country was lit by LEDs (12% more efficient than compact fluorescent bulbs, with better light and more color options), those high pressure fluorescents (with trace amounts of mercury gas in them) wouldn't be needed. A handful of retailers and manufacturers would loose their investments but hey they could make and sell the LEDs too. What a shame that pushing these new light bulbs is so well intentioned yet missing the mark.

PG&Es effort is nice but it seems like an attempt to push the lesser option of new options.

Here is a piece that talks about China jumping on the incadescent bulb ban, funny they make 70% of the light bubls everyone is about to replace. I wonder what their motivation is?
Speaking of China, they are about to commit the second most dispicable crime in their modern history, read about it here. This one makes me want to cry...

It seems that GE is cutting back on light bulb manufacturing, probably consolidating its operations in china, where power plants have no emission control and associated shipping emissions account for huge portions (2-5%) of our so called carbon load. Read about GE here.

Read here about California's attempt to regulate emissions from these china boats full of light bubls. Good luck...

Hmm, do we still need those new power plants...there's an awful lot of $$$ to made building those things, with plenty of tax breaks for the process, maybe we should give away more money on technology that doesn't really finish the job, yea that sounds smart.

And if you love the old spotted owl, go here by today, Friday, to request a new plan for helping the endangered raptor.

Now all this news seems forbodding, with $$ sloshing around the policy writers and makers, widening the gap between wealthy and not. I don't fret because the universe is so much bigger than us and we are waking up to that fact. The sun is our lover and Earth our bed. The fantastic potentials for humanity stewarding this paradise called Earth are just coming into view. All this bull shit, while important to follow and take control of, is just a smoke screen. A better cage if you will. See through it and take control of your fucking world, one thought at a time. We create our reality, so think positive and act accordingly, GOd bless and may the force be with you.

Happy Birthday Critical Mass

This is actually a belated birthday but what ever. 15 years ago in San Fransisco bicycle commuters and activists took over the streets for a few hours one Friday afternoon. This tradition continued every month and caught on in cities and towns all over the US. Last Saturday was national don't drive your car day and I am guessing the coincidence was planned for the day after the birthday. For anyone wanting a nostalgic
viewing of the Bay Guardian and their bit about it read here.


It seems that all the foot dragging by fuel station owners and gasoline refiners has actually created a glut of ethanol in the market. Imagine that, available fuel is sitting un-used while the price of corn drops, both circumstances screwing the burgeoning bio fuels industry and farmers alike. But wait, gasoline refiners get a federal subsidy of $.51 per gallon of ethanol mixed into petroleum based fuels. Why the glut? When was the last time you saw E85 gas available or had a car that could handle it? Read a NYT article here
if interested.

The real solution as I have said many times is plug in cars and a re-vamped electricity grid. Most people that drive cars use them for less than 150 miles per use making the plug in ideal. They have faster acceleration too.

Tesla Motors still slow on getting their plug in sports car to market, ask them why their next car is a sedan instead of a station wagon or mini van with real market value. Here's their website

It looks like Oregon finally has some affordable electric vehicles now that ZAP opened up a new Portland show room, and it's on the east side! Check zap's blog
here,
and read on to hear about some strategic alliances they made with a Chilean utility and a Chinese auto manufacturer.

So things are still good, even though the fascists are usurping more power, the greedy greedos are doing what ever they can and using the once free market as their shield while wielding a sword made from their ill gotten gains. They kill everybody in the market because they have lobby forces paid for by the subsidies and favors those same lobby fucks get for them. So many uncertainties, inequities, and ubiquities it's hard to see the love in all our hearts but it is alive and we all have a response ability to act according to our values and abilities. Thanks and have a great moment.

So i just produced a skate contest at my local skate park, my brother Pete came up to viist and help out. I don't own a camera so you'll have to wiat till my bro posts some of the video he captured. It was a blast and all the kids ripped the park apart. I was amazed at all the help i had and how much fun everyone had. Thanks be to the most high!

It appears that the villagers are getting restless down in the Andes, capital is pushy but the end of this article really shows it.

Solar powered houses defeat housing slump and give sellers an edge. ONe more investment angle for solar. read LA times aritcle here

One more case of government collusion for private gain and this one is obvious.

Well there is plenty of great things in the world even though it appears crappy we are winning and the dogs that sit at control end of our leashes are getting stupid while we get smart. Be vigilant and keep the smiles coming.

Can you feel the fall?

Yes here we are at another junction of seasonal fluction, the air is chilly, the blankets heavy and many fine things are happening. I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather.

I have to thankk my fellow bloggers for keeping me in the loop, without you i would be shuffling around my little town feeling blue

a good cure for the blues is SF's Nothingtons curtisy of Can You See the SUnset from the Southside who also have a great series posted right now called if it's not punk it's junk. Check them out.

Anyone realise that Fugazi turns 20 years old this year? who's feeling old and young simultaneously? A nice personalized history with 88' peel sessions here

Here's something that hits home because I grew up with a model train set but beyond that it's well, a free world thank God the strangest fetish ever seen

It seems that in our federal transpo department, bicycles are an enemy of bridge maintence. Even though last year much money was retunred to the feds by sates as unused, our Transpo secretrary claims the 1.5% of gasoline tax given to bicycle path projects is too much. Go figure

If that isn't enough, news from the california front. It seems a Jerry Brown, who still has digs in Sacremento (even though he's a shmuck), filed a lawsuit against Big Auto claiming they are responsible for emissions. Now i am all about 0 emission cars, as you know from reading this blog, but why doesn't California just re-instate their 0 emission standard and force electric car issues that way? Come on Jerry, using state funds to sue private industry with so many more effective tactics available, I wonder if you really care.


Here is a sotry worth reading. Thousands of acres of wetlands saved and army corp of engineers put in place. Engineering and buracracy don't mix.

Sometimes it takes a long time for an idea or investment to prove itself out. Remember when Lex Luthor bought all the that mojave desert land in Superman. Well it appears the day has come when some of the hottest sunniest real estate is finally valuble. The BLM has recieved requests for access roads to over 300,000 acres out there for future solar plants. Maybe they will actually make some money off the land finally instead of giving it away for next to nothing like they do for mining and timber interests... right

Well that's my hour of justice, I really need to get better at writing posts.


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Good Music for Good Times

Vampire Weekend, ethnopop specialists from NYC have a great sound that is ready for you. Check their mysapce page and you can't easily buy thier music but can keep an eye out for their full length in January.

Some live Beastie Boys and BMW at Covert Cu here.here

Pinback's new one due out tommorow 9-11, a little peak here.

I haven't figured out how to post music yet so that's all you get. God bless and happy listening.

Hope you're hungry

Here's the latest in what ever i usually write about.
A federal appeals court overturned a previous federal desicion to ban mid range sonar testing of the California coast, siting time of war as reason for reversal. The sonar range they are working with is almost sure to mess with migrating whales, and will definitely be somewhat like audio torture, according to marine biologists. read nyt article here.

Good news from the judicial front, a federal judge in Nevada denied the water for testing Yucca mountain's potential as a spent nuclear storage facility. With so much solar and coal availble, and de-centralized generation the most efficient method I don't get the nuclear argument. Help me out here, do we really need deadly spent nuclear material around for the next 10,0000 years? Let me know why...

The National Park service recently decided to go against the 73% of public comments that wanted no snowmobiles in N ROckies parks. Why do they have comment periods? Reada about it in the bustling Billings Gazette here.

MOre bad news for China INc. Hooray for domestic manufacturing. Make sure your kids aren't playing with lead paint here.

On the solar/battery front we have a new player in battery technology, read about it
here. The article also has a nice interactive thing about different motors and how they work, except electric cars which is what the article is about hmmm....

Who's moving to Arkansas and why? Good luck greening the monster

Speaking of moving, Norway sounds good and I hear the skiing is un-believable, check out their initiative to curtail green double speak here.

On the straight solar tip I'll send you to the green wombat blog where 3 bits of good news await your hopeful eyes, though Business 2.0 has been officially canceled as of the october issue. boo-hoo hoo. Read about it here.

Lastly some good humor I scream you to the Onion.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a beautiful moment.

Pinback Announces album release date...Good Times

For all of you who haven't heard Pinback, I offer my condolences. If I knew how to drop music on hear i would. Luckily you can just buy their album when it comes out on September 11. TOur dates etc. here.

Right to Dry ready to Fly

Has anyone heard of the "Right to Dry" movement or clothesline bans? I never had but i guess there's always someone to regulate. Check it out here.

I had to let you know that domestic demand for whale products has gone down in Iceland, thanks Bjork. Thanks to it they halted the hunt before meeting quota. Who decides the whale quota i wonder? Here's a piece about it.

What would a post be without a little more good news from the world of solar electricity? Another Silly valley company has thrown its hat into the ring. Welcome to the next biggest money machine since petroleum itself. Read about it here.

Naked Greens

On saturday, Spencer Tunic, a New York artist, had 600 naked fools on a swiss glacier for one of his well known public naked art photo shoots. The most recent was Mexico City's main Promanade. A few photos here

I don't know much about the blog but it had the best pictures.

I found a 5 minute article showcasing the recent back lash to "locavores", people who push eating food grown within a certain distance from their home. It covers a few key points and gives most of the story. When i pick chard from my yard, I save money, time, and it tastes f#*$kin great. I eat what i want when i want, being aware doesn't mean being obsessive, thanks to God. CSA's, featured in the next bit are a great way to get organized, regional food. Happy eating! Check the article here

Here's a little primer on Community Supported Agriculture, CSA, which may some day be the best way to know what you are eating.

Solar generation got another boost last week when an Austin TX start up landed $77 million in seed money for thin solar cell technology. Check a short article here.


News links aside, i have been maintaining this blog a few months now and feel some fresh fantasies are due. Believe in what moves you, gives thanks to it when the time is right and don't miss the quiet moments of wind through your hair, a hand on your neck, or a split second exchange of humanity, a glance, a shoulder bump, or what ever. We may have past lives, over souls, second chances, or inter-dimensional capacities but all we know for sure is what is here, in this moment and I encourage everyone to embrace it as your love. Be as colorful or plain as you like, create or consume or both, ride the train or walk the streets, just be here and enjoy what the moment brings. Thanks be to the most high, one perfect divine love, poured upon us like water from a beach bucket.

Dreaming for Dollars...

Anyone who thinks lucid dreaming is worth trying check this out. The bit about keeping a dream journal is real, I did it for about 6 months and started having crazy vivid dreams. You can also drink a stiff cup of Mugwort tea before bed to increase the vibrancy and color of your dreams. Here's something about remembering your dreams. Thanks to the punk guy for the dream seed today.

A new submitter for the punk guy dropped an obscure film quote that I happened to know. I'm boasting but whateva, Check it out here, but don't scroll down to comments until you guessed what it's from. Good Luck!

Business week is jumping onto the green auto bandwagon with an online article here.
Most of it is in support of the old paradigm of combustion engines and fuel stations, wasting time and money, but the solar power article is a nice thread to follow.

Electricity continued

Just a quick note to update some recent findings in the realms of my last 2 posts. I read a great article in business 2.0 a great magazine by the way. Here it is. Here's a bit about inventor Kamen's new take on the old stirling engine concept.
check it out. Here's some background and images on stirling engines.
images here.
Wiki here.


Thanks and have a great moment.

Rudoloph Steiner- The Ledgend behind the Man

So i was recently in Portland, OR and found myself enjoying a band by the name of AU, a write up in Portland Mercury HERE and the company of some lovely ladies who were both Waldorf educators there for a weekend conference. For those of you who are not familiar, the Waldorf education system was hatched by the late great Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian who's gifts to the world keep on giving.
Here's a historical look at Waldorf Education. Here is a link to the North American association. Boom!
He was also asked to apply his theory to agriculture, and Bio-Dyanamic was born, and continues to be interpreted and applied the world over today. Here's a resource site. Bip!

I think this little piece will lead you to many portals of interesting things if you poke around. Steiner was also well known for his work in Medicine and building design. I hope the lovely teachers I met get a chance to read this, thanks for the good times, keep up the good work.

Electricity for the Next Generation

Electricity is one the most pivitol innovations we humans have come to enjoy. We can thank folks like Nikolai Tesla and Thomas Edison. It sarted years ago, some history via wikia here. Zip to now, and we have 5 billion of us wanting it. We have an electricity grid, but there's been problems, and more innovation is coming. Something about a team at Columbia's Earth Island Institute here. There's plenty of sun light, enough for all the plants, and then some. Huge solar arrays are still viable in the the deserts of the world, but a nice home unit is best, it offers equalibrium for the grid and less current loss over the wires. They are very expensive though, and I have often wondered how solar electricity was going to be made affordable? I always knew a business model would reveal itself and look HERE it is. They make money off your roof top real estate by renting you solar panels. In the process they give you the jaw dropping offer of a 25 year fixed billing rate. If you have the $ to own your PV system, you will eventually get checks from the power company. They pay for themselves in 5-10 years, the draw back is needing a PV electrician around when it breaks. Who's looking for a career change pronounced shaaange. Thanks to innovation and capital, our electricity generation is coming home. Combine this with an electric car or truck and you don't need a gas station or a power plant. Here's a wierdo video relating to the battery buy back and grid modification deal PG&E is working out. wha'? Austin, Texas mayor doing the right thing, and it seems we are learning to electrify objects through the air, welcome to the party WiTricity Well i hope the hops around here have helped. Peace

A New Car For The Hopeful...

OK, so i watched "Who Stole the Electric Car" recently, this is a fresh wound but it needs mending. I remeber my older sister tried building an electric car in the garage one winter while my brother and I laughed. A solar one at that. I do beleive these cars are a gateway to much cleaner energy and automotive sectors, so the article is biased towards that.

While not so new really, Electric Cars wikipedia look are definitely a better choice for most peoples' daily. Unless you are hauling a heavy trailer, a heavy load or need heavy drugs to get by, electric motors will move your vehicle with amazing efficiency. Especially when you figure in the lack of every cars' heaviest passenger, the internal combustion engine. How they work. Electric cars or plug in's as they are also refered to as, offer us many advantages some of which i have listed below.

1. Less weight of engine and steel frame needed to carry said heavy engine=less energy needed to move entire car.
2. Less $ to operate.
3. Charging in evening when electricity use is at lowest point.
4. Emissions are from electricty generation only. (could be solar, wind etc.) Cogent but rantful look at actual footprint of electric cars.
5. Smaller and easier to park.
6. Quieter.
7. Large scale use would balance out the power grid and lead to innovation in the whole sector.

Some points I have considered

1. Short trips because of batteries running out of char
Tesla Motors has developed the latest battery technology, a bit about it - here. While battery technology is improving, a gas generator can be installed in your trunk and batteries can be plugged in at begining of long trip.

2. Slow and whimpy
Slow & Whimpy? Do you still think so?

3. Electricity grid can't handle it
Batteries charge at night for the most part, smoothing grid demand. Slow de-centralizing of power generation with grid tied home solar and wind is a trend, and an article announcing PG&E's intention to buy used vehicle batteries to further help smooth grid and capture more electricity is here. Read this

MIT has done some research and developed a model for electric city cars, with inovative baggage cart concept, something akin to the free bikes projects in college towns, only they're not bikes and they're not free. Boston Globe article here, check the interactive graphic for photos.

There is even a company called left coast conversions that will trasnform your internal combustion car to electric. Spendy now, but soon this will be a great business oportunity for any mehcanic who feels inclined!

Comming soon, Electricity for the next Generation!

World Government; Why and For What?

I don't want to go too far here, though it's obvious I am capable. One world government is being created, slowly and carefully by multiple generations of coordinated effort, this is a fact. To me this is a crime, and crimes by intelligent, sane individuals usually have a financial motivation. Bankers have motivation, less national currencies mean less coordinating and more super structrue to hide behind. Who else has to gain, any ideas? Well whomever has been brokering the deals and manufacturing the need in the public sphere will surely be well cared for by those that do benefit the most. So there's potential motivation for the implementers, and I don't mean the shmucks who belly up the congressional roll and say yay, though they get a little something through position and campaign funding. Now I suppose it will be cool to travel where ever I want in the world, no border problems, but free trade and lack of national sovereignty dosen't even ensure that. Travel restrictions could still be rampant for living creatures even if it is simplified for products and currencies. Who else benefits? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Seems like national laws about industrial or agricultural pollution are easily subverted through trade agreements, there's a motivational point for polluting industries etc.

One thing for sure, if we as a planetary population are headed for a more inter-planetary, or inter-galactic reality, like Star Wars, then getting one world governement would give us a better footing. That's a pretty big bite to chew thoroughly, so aside from that, it seems a small number of well positioned powecrats, bankers, and industrialists will benefit most. The Canadiens are not so happy either, check this very detailed timeline. i know this post # 2 about this topic but the timeline is exceptinal and it is happening, regardless of citizen consent.

North American Union in progess, watch out!

The Trilateral Cooperation Charter, ratified in 2004 is FDA's angle in the growing program to make a EU style government for North America, and skepticts said the new world order was a conspiracy theory. Check out details here. The FDA has issued some so called guidelines about natural products, vitamins etc, that are potentially the ground work for dismantling our health care choices by calling preventative/maintenence therapies "medicine". Submit your comments HERE. but comment period ends April 30th. They have a standard comment that includes everything you need to say, I read it and it is thorough. Good luck and enjoy your health how you want it.

Future Dogs of Hollywood!

The latest from my bro. Great song and editing genius packs them in like dogs... check the short filmhere.

NESARA, the real story.

I know alot of theories exist about shady groups profiteering from control over currencies. If you study up on currency, it's ciruculation, what backs it, and how it is stored and loaned, ie banks, you'll find more than you're bargining for, not to mention an honorary degree in economics. I recently came across a site with a nice solution to some of the problems we have come into in the US here. There is alot of misinformation on one side, and crack pot conspericies on the other, but it's safe to say something is wrong and this site offers a real solution. This may take 20 miniutes, but it's worth the read.

Swedish Study Circles, democracy in action...

I read a book years ago about Sweden's study circle movement but never realized they originated here in the late 1800s. Though wikipedia claims they began in early 1800s Sweden, i don't know for sure. They are used very regularly in sweden for democratic purposes and adult education. Here is a little deeper description here. I truly believe study cirlces will re-emerge as a majoy player in adult education and self governance. Enjoy your moment and thanks for tuning in.

Recycled Plastic...glass envy

I manufacture gourmet sauerkraut and am looking to switch my packaging materials from glass to plastic. This may seem a little perverse to some, but ecologically it may be better suited to use petroleum based materials than glass. For one, glass is heavy, using more fuel to ship. It requires extreme heat, using more fuel to produce, it can break wasting my money and good kraut, and it is getting more scarce. Plastic, the miracle material, is light weight, highly recylclable, uses less fuel to ship, doesn't break, but I'm sure it is very toxic to produce. How toxic, we'll see... For now if interested the FDA has a few words about using recycled plastic in food grade containersHERE It's a little wordy but if you like industrial applications of chemistry your day is made!

What happens on the road...

I was able to take a vicarious road trip recently via my own brother Peter Alton. He drove from LA to Mississippi, then on to New Orleans, pronounced Naleans, for Mardi Gras, then had a sobering drive home with lent pounding him silly. He's not really Catholic though. Check out the road trip Here

Hope is something to keep the head high, do something to keep it relevent and alive!

Recovering, breathless, the dawn of my day appeared with bird song and warm breeze. No one future exists, only a collection of agreeements that place us where we are best suited and most useful to the greater good, Decide for yourself where you want to be, how you want things to be, and what you want to be doing. Good luck and may the force be with you!