Try Love for a "Change."

It's all become clear to me now.
Rich white men are doing something that they've always done.
They are trying to control others.
All others.
They pine for the old days when you could maximize your profits by using slaves.
Wow, slavery was great! Free work, and all you had to do was try and make sure that your slaves didn't die, but if they did, eh, get another one.
Oh, bliss! Oh, profits!
And the slaves were "different," they were not men.
They were less than men. That made it easier on their consciences (those who had consciences).
They even looked different, to make it even easier. They were black.

"Hey, remember that one magic grifter book that we've convinced everyone was written by God? What if we could find something in that that explains why these guys are less than men. Look at this. Mark of Ham. Works for me. We can sell this to the rubes. Tell them it's God's will. I bet this book will come in handy later. Let's build some buildings and use brainwashing, conditioning and threats and really pound our dogma into all of the people. If they don't believe us, they'll go to this really horrible place FOREVER, and experience pain and suffering like they can't even imagine, but we'll help them imagine it."

They will ALWAYS resent that the institution of slavery was abolished and they will do anything to get back to those principles.
They hate the blacks for no longer being slaves, and expecting to be treated equally and with justice.
They hate the liberals for helping to bring down slavery and expecting to have everyone treated equally and with justice.
They hate unions, because they fight for equality and justice for the workers (who, by golly, should be slaves and not get wages).
They hate immigrants for getting here AFTER slavery.
They LOVE free-trade agreements, because they allow us to ship jobs to places where the pay for workers is just barely above slavery.
They hate women, because, just like slaves, they have had the gall to believe that they deserve equality and justice.
They hate the middle class because they want a share of the money. Not gonna happen. "It's OUR money."

The best way to keep blacks down? Poverty and taking away the right to vote by using the magic grifter book, that says whatever we want it to say.
The best way to keep immigrants down? Poverty and taking away the right to vote by using the magic grifter book, that says whatever we want it to say..
The best way to keep women down? Use their bodies against them by using the magic grifter book, that says whatever we want it to say.

How do they do it?
Buy the government.
Buy the media.
Keep us scared, keep us down.
Turn us against each other.
Give us bread and circuses.

Time to stand up and fight.
Don't believe them.
Demand the truth.
Demand equality.
And start loving each other. It disrupts their plan.
I love you.
Peace.

Baby Steps...

Who're you callin' an animal?

Over the last couple of years, I have seen a increasing number of videos posted on the web, that show the amazing capacity of dogs to show love and compassion. In one video, a dog blocks highway traffic to protect another dog whom has been injured. Dogs protect their owners. And the babies of their owners. Dogs protect each other and in the case of search and rescue dogs, people they don't even know.

The only times that these dogs get upset or frustrated, is when they don't have the resources to do more. These magnificent creatures will risk their own lives and go to whatever lengths are in their ability to protect and save their charges. They have no promise of monetary reward. There is no outside agency that motivates them. They don't crave media recognition. They won't be going on a speaking tour, or given endorsement deals. They do it for love. Isn't that incredible?

In a lot of religious traditions, these heroic creatures are considered to not have a "soul" and therefore, cannot go to "heaven." First of all, I wouldn't want to go to a "heaven" that didn't include dogs. They are better "people" than most of the people I know.

Now, when there are "people" who refuse to use the resources they have (By the way, those resources are given to them by us!) to help others who are sick or poor, they have made themselves much, much less than any dog. Any. Dog. The same dogs that, by their religious beliefs, are not allowed into "heaven". A dog will use ALL of the resources it has, and go beyond, to help. When all along, there are "people" who refuse to help others, even though they have virtually unlimited resources (that they were given by US, the taxpayer), and they refuse to use them, insisting instead to give them to the rich and comfortable.

I think this demonstrates perfectly, who does and does not have a soul.
It shows without a shadow of a doubt who will and who will not get into "heaven."
It proves to me who deserves to be called an Animal.

Baby Steps...

Sometimes thing happen just like you planned.

In a past post, I mentioned that you might be able to ask your landlord to consider making some changes that would affect our impact on the planet. Well, by golly, my landlord did just that.
Recently our complex installed hot water-on-demand in all of the buildings. Not only does the water operate on this system, so does the heat (which is hot water). I'm not going to pretend that their motives were environmental and altruistic, in fact, I'm sure they are just enjoying the HUGE energy savings, but I'll take what I can get.
In fact, that is exactly how it works. Once businesses realize that they can actually save money by doing the right thing, hey, look at that, they start doing the right thing.
Baby Steps...

Good Produce. Good Meat. Good Dog, let's eat!

Here's a story that warns of the environmentally-conscious burrito fast food retailer, Chipotle planning to raise their prices in the next year. Uh, that's what they do. That's what all businesses do. In the vast majority of cases, they do it to compensate for their prices going up and (mostly) so they don't lose their profit margin.

In the case of Chipotle, I think we should all HAPPILY pay the higher prices because of what Chipotle does for it's customers and especially what it does for the market.

Chipotle has been a leader in bringing quality food products to the fast-food market. The meats they use are sustainably produced and without hormones or other pharmaceutical Frankenstein blends that swim freely in a lot of livestock.

They are also on the forefront (or is it vanguard?) of using non-GMO produce, At this juncture in the history of corporate farming (both produce AND livestock) that isn't easy. The powers that be are very protective of their strangle hold on the market, therefore, they have lobbyists to make sure that their corporate overlords get government subsidies to keep the prices of their science-project-gone-wrong faux-foodstuffs at an artificially low price, making it the first choice for those wishing to keep costs down.

By buying products that are sustainably produced in the type of quantities that a national food distributor is able to buy in, the cost of these (better) products is driven down. (soon after the Clinton administration mandated that all government offices use at least 30% recycled paper, the price to consumers came down significantly. Just sayin'.) When the prices come down, the potential for the consumer to purchase the "better" product improves. More is sold, and the price can come down even more.

The  best way to fight against the greedy corporations (like Monsanto) that are willing to destroy the food supply for profit, is to make their product, and therefore, their profits less valuable.

Besides, I LOVE burritos. And Chipotle has some of the very best. I'll be there to shell out the extra bucks for a company who fights the good fight and makes the great food.
Baby steps...

This Is How We (should) Do It.

Okay, you've got to get someplace right Now! (This is the way we are now. Everything is me, me, me; now, now, now; fast, fast, fast; more, more, more.) So how are you going to get there? If you're like most of us, you're going to run (well, probably not run) out to your baby. You know the car that you wanted so badly that you were willing to pay $20,000 for and then carry some pretty hefty insurance in order to protect the car and you. Boy, were your friends impressed, at least for a  couple of minutes, until the next distraction came along. "Ooh, Shiny!"
Have you noticed the gas prices going up? Of course you have, especially since the car doesn't quite get the mileage that was promised in the advertising.
And if you're going downtown, you've got to pay for parking. How much? You're kidding!
There is an new alternative alternative, thanks to some forward-thinking people. Yeah, they'll make a profit, but isn't that the American-Capitalist-Way?

Since we've made the choice to travel in cars to get where we're going, I take great comfort and encouragement from a new "trend" which I hope will become a new "Normal".
There are a bunch of companies which are based on the Collaborative Consumption model. That is the "shared" use of things. This is especially effective when we're talking about big-ticket products like automobiles.
There have been a number of car share companies around for several years and I applaud their efforts and would happily use them. They have names like Occasional Car (www.occasionalcar.com),
or Zip Car (www.zipcar.com)  and Ego Car Share, which is a non-profit, (carshare.org). There's even a site that empowers people to rent out their own car when it is not in use( www.relayrides.com/).

Building on the success of these earlier  entrepreneurs is a newcomer that has taken this model to a higher level.  Located in many big cities, Car2Go (car2go.com) uses the smallest cars available, the Smart 2four, and stations them all over the city. With a membership card and a smartphone app you can find a car near you. You can reserve a trip, or just take your chances in a catch-as-catch-can style. Once you taken your trip, park (free) at any meter, or on any street and walk-away. You are only charged for the time and miles you drove. The next person finds where you parked the car from their mobile app, then they go. Like the others, fuel and insurance are covered in your fees. Unlike the others, you don't have to return the car to a drop-off location. And you don't ever have to pay to park.

Pretty freaking cool! I intend to use these vehicles often and if all goes as I anticipate, they should grow enough in the next several years, that I'll do away with my car.
I wonder who else will?

Baby steps...

Pretty easy, really.

Sustainability is a pretty simple concept.
Can something (some practice or some action) be done forever, or for a very long time, or at least for as long as it's necessary? That's pretty much it. In order for something to last, it probably has to be self-sustaining, which means it must be replenished or it must be replaced, preferably the former.
We are consumers. That is, we consume. We must eat and drink in order to survive. When we are behaving in a sustainable manner we then, in turn generate or produce something that some other organism needs to survive. Perhaps our waste is employed in the fertilization and cultivation of some produce, or perhaps we become food for some predator. At least in that scenario, we have a purpose.
The most important thing we can do is to be aware and to think about the consequences of the things we do. This is a practice that has fallen so far out of popularity that it has received it's "free-fall skydivers" certification.

We have come to become ruled by convenience. That is the most important thing anyone can seem to think of. Let's build stuff to save time. To measure time. To avoid walking. To avoid working. People just throw stuff away because it's easy. It doesn't matter if there's some use left in it, or some raw materials that can be extracted, or the fact that it just looks bad sitting there where you threw it. And using stuff up is even worse. We are trying to have a society here and why don't you think everyone should get a fair share?

I notice that no matter how thoughtless someone gets, they still manage to get up when they have to defecate at night. It's obvious why.

So, now apply that same logic to everything that you use. Should I bother to get up, or just sit here in my own filth? Same applies to every thing that we do in life. Just think. That's all.
Oh, and then do something about it.
Baby steps...

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it

I put on a lot of weight recently, because when I traveled internationally people didn't believe I was an American.
Have you noticed, lots of our fellow countrymen are looking more and more like the blob-shaped passengers on the spaceship from Wall-E?
Maybe that's why they refer to the proposed trans-continental pipeline as XL, to appeal to the excess-driven American public. By God, if we're gonna have a pipeline running through our heartland, like some sort of Borg bypass surgery, then it had better be X-tra Large!
Did it ever occur to anyone, why don't the Canadians build this pipeline to the Pacific? Or to Hudson Bay? Or to the St. Lawrence River? Perhaps it's because the Canadians aren't as greedy and stupid as we are.
This proposed pipeline will create jobs! Yeah, maybe. About 6000 transient, temporary, boom town-like oil field jobs. That ought to solve our unemployment problem.
America will benefit and profit from lower oil prices? Really?  This oil (using the term very loosely) is going to the Gulf of Mexico to be sold on the global open market. We'll have to bid on it like everyone else, we don't get to siphon some off along the way. That is, except for the inevitable leaks that will happen all over the route of this monstrosity.
 No one is noticing, but the big corporation are starting to divest of their money in fossil fuels and slowly investing in alternatives. Would these greedy a-holes do that if they didn't anticipate a huge profit? I think not!
Stop the mind-numbingly stupid XL Pipeline and try to get used to not using fossil fuels. It will serve you well in the long run.
And it will serve the planet well.
Baby steps...