Green Collar Gigs

Hillary Clinton has been utilizing the term "Green Collar Jobs" over the past few months and, not surprising, she didn't come up with it. In fact, she wasn't even the first candidate to start endorsing the term and the revolutionary plan associated with it. Actually, John Edwards was the first to actually layout a full-fledged plan called "Green Collar Economy." But where did this Green Collar Job plan and terms origniate from?

Van Jones has been talking up this plan for over a year and a half now. His organization, The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, has been the megaphone for this and other progressive ideas and strategies to combat the multiple challenges facing our communities and world: poverty, racism, environmental degradation and economics.

His interview with Thomas Friedman in today's NY Times shows just how far his idea for Green Collar jobs is going. Check it out...

Messenger Clips

Below are two fantastically filmed videos of bike messenger races in NYC and London. I have come to have a great deal of respect for the messenger community after having lived in San Francisco for two years and starting to bike to work myself. There is something very freeing about bobbing and weaving through traffic and running red lights and stop signs.

That being said, no one does it better than these folks. Pretty amazing cuts of their races through parts of London and NYC. Enjoy...



And more of racing from NYC.

Christmas Tree threat?

I'm originally from Vermont and outside of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (fave flavor is still Phish Food), maple syrup (on the decline) and skiing Mad River Glen (best community-owned ski mountain in the east) there are few things I feel make up the heart and soul of this fabulous little republic just south of Montreal. And pine trees are part of this lifeblood that make up a winter in Vermont.





Enter the Sirex Wood Wasp. Hitching a ride on boats from Africa and Europe this little bugger bores holes in two and three-needle pine trees and then lays it's larvae in the tree. This of course does damage to the trees tissue eventually causing it, with enough bored holes and injected larvae, to die a slow death. For the first time every, the Sirex Wood Wasp has been found in Vermont pine forests. While having been found in pine forests throughout New York State, Pennsylvania and Michigan it had not yet been tracked into the Green Mountain State.

Forestry officials will be keeping an eye out for more signs of the wasp in the coming months. It has been controlled, with minimal damage, using biological agents. Hmm...sounds harmless?

Chinese Biking: Oh brother where art thou?

China, the largest and most powerful consumer country in the world, is dying to clear up their air. The combination of leaded gas, millions of new vehicles, and lax air pollution limits has made urban China a veritable death trap - over 600,000 deaths a year are blamed on air pollution (another 400,000 die every year from polluted drinking water). And yes, the pollution does effect the U.S. How the world's top athlete's deal with this pollution in the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games will be enlightening for the world to behold. But thats a problem for another day...

Coal power plants are a major cause of this pollution (well-documented in a three-piece series by the NYT) but the growing use of cars in the world's largest country is having heavy impacts on an already deteriorated air quality.

Yet, it looks like China is working to begin chipping away at this problem, albeit with a very small hammer and chisel. September 22 is China's first "No Car Day" where in more than a 100 cities across the country will ban private vehicles from hitting the blacktop all day. Some cities will ban driving altogether while others will just "encourage" citizens to stay off the roads. To help commuters forgoing their four-wheeled habit get around, there will be an increased number of public transportation options.

I find this whole No Car Day push sadly ironic. Here is a country that 60 years ago had the goal of reaching 1 million bicycles nationwide as part of the government's Five Year Plan. In 1958 they reached that goal and bike lanes became a part of every urban development program. This was almost 30 years before the first state-sanctioned bike lanes appeared in the United States. Now, because of the growth in the economy and the development of a national transportation system that is structured around the vehicle, China is inheriting all the problems that go along with such "progress": air pollution from millions of new vehicles.

Either way you look at it, you have to admire how fast the country has mobilized over 100 cities to commit to this day. I'll readily admit the problems with Chinese communism but their efficiency in things like this is really incredible. When was the last time the U.S. has been able to organize something like this from the White House on down?

Green skyscraper in S.F.

They seem to be the rage now. San Francisco, being full of the smartest, most progressive folk I've ever encountered, is building the world's greenest skyscraper as the centerpiece of the massively huge Transbay Terminal project that will connect SF to LA via high-speed rail trains (like France's TGV but faster and quieter). Think Grand Central Station but 50 times more advanced - and sleek and sexy like something out of a futuristic sci-fi book.

This is one of three designs submitted for consideration. These are my favorite pics from SOM (Skidmore, Owings and Merrill). (Via Inhabitat).

Here are some pics:

Seg-vehicle: running on steaming cow dung

When your name is Dean Kamen, you probably eat really smart cereal in the morning. You probably wear really smart sweaters too. I bet you'd even have a really smart car. Well, maybe not smart, but how about one that doesn't have an internal combustion engine?

Kamen, the inventor of the famously useless but "damn that is cool" Segway, has been focusing all his attention on developing a new kind of green car (something incredibly useful). No, it doesn't run on water. No, it doesn't run on corn, or McDonald's french fries. It runs on heat. With global warming keeping us nice and toasty for the next few millenia we'll have plenty of that to go around.

They're called stirling engines and they're already being put to use in the global south (for those of you still stuck in the '80s and the Cold War that's the "3rd World"). A village in India uses steaming cow dung to power their stirling engine and the entire village. Hot cow dung. Who knew?

The engines actually convert the heat into mechanical energy by compressing and expanding gas inside a small cylinder. The problem here is actually mass producing these little suckers. But Kamen is confident after chatting with green car maker THiNK about putting stirling engines in their electric cars. This move has all sorts of potential for extending the range of electric vehicles by hundreds of miles. And, those cars could run on anything -- even cow dung.

Via EcoGeekand GreenWombat

I Can Has Cheezburger

I've become addicted to this site over the past year after being introduced to it by one Stanley J back in SF. It continues to give me plenty of chuckle but I think only a few people will understand or appreciate its humor. Today's pic gave me a good belly laugh:

Waiting for that paper trail

How this is still an issue in an state who's history with voting corruption as checkered as your dad's wedding tuxedo from 1975 is beyond me. Why has Diebold not been taken out? Their ATMs don't even work. How the hell do we expect their voting machines to, and why, in God's name would be put the outcome of our most democratic process in their hands? We can host cleaner and more honest elections in other countries than we can here in our own. Pathetic? Yes, absolutely.

Just get a freakin' paper trail. Is it that hard of an ask?

No End in Sight

I'll be running to the theater to see this documentary. Unlike other films that are critical of the Bush administration's handling of just about anything this decade, "No End in Sight" was directed by a former political science professor -- probably one that knows a fair amount about the world in which we live. The trailer is pretty stunning:

Baseball and Politics

I have to say that I wasn't surprised to see that the Yankee-Red Sox game tuned in almost twice as many viewers on Sunday night than the Democratic national debate on CNN. When it comes to things that are authentically American, it doesn't get much more
purely nationalistic than baseball and politics. And baseball, it seems, will always win.

Thinking along these terms, imagine what would happen if Election Day were held on the same day as Game 7 of the World Series. I actually think the rise of nationalistic pride might actually increase voter turnout. Well, most likely not, but it'd be an interesting situation to watch unfold. Or, god forbid, you vote from the ballparks!

The fact that the debates were only Democrats in the thick of an early primary race contributed to the low viewership. If it was an open debate that included Republicans as well I imagine the numbers would have been a bit higher. However...

Democrats need not be completely discouraged. Ratings for the debate were up from the previous one in South Carolina and telecast on MSNBC. That one was seen in 1.68 million homes and attracted 2.26 million viewers on April 26.

And of course the post-debate analysis wasn't going to hold up to "The Sopranos" one of the most successful cable shows of our time.

Of course it'd be great if more Americans were tuning into the debates and the political world in general. Afterall, our democracy is rooted on the idea of strong civic participation -- unfortunately, most folks only make time to vote once every four years and watch a few last minute news conferences to make their decision. And, why? Well, because in the end it doesn't really matter to most people. I think the average person doesn't feel the effects of whomever is elected to the White House. In the end, its just another position that doesn't really impact my everyday life.

But is it? It is not just the President you are electing when you vote every four years. You're also electing (via the President's decision) a cabinet full of dedicated people that work in specific sectors of our government, economy and culture. You're also electing everyone that they hire...in the end you're adding your voice and opinion to a position that's power trickles down into all of our lives. On the surface it may look meaningless and unconnected to your daily life but it indirectly affects everything we do. And, yes it's what keeps some power in the hands of the people of this country -- that alone is enough to drive me to the polls for even the most local election.

But baseball rules. It is part of our national identity. One of my favorite quotes from George F. Will sums it up nicely:

Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona.

Go Sox.

Approaching Hurricane

Beautiful San Francisco - 1971

For those of us who have been in San Francisco and can appreciate the changes over the years...here is a great panorama circa 1971.

More money for crappy coffee

Starbucks announced today that they'll be raising coffee prices again -- this time about 9 cents a cup. The reason is purportedly due to the price hikes in the dairy sector. Apparently milk and cream are no longer so cheap. But, the larger discussion here is about whether Starbucks is starting to tank:

The widely anticipated move marks Starbucks' second price increase in less than a year and comes a month after the coffee shop chain's chief financial officer warned it would be "very challenging" for Starbucks to meet the high end of its 2007 earnings forecast, in part because of rising dairy prices.

Some drinks might have a more dramatic change in price than others but overall it shouldn't be too much of a "shock" to the caffeinated faithful.

As I always do when I hear about anything Starbucks-related, I have to speak to the other Starbucks problem: the beans are burned! People don't really realize it but we're all drinking sweetened ash. What makes Starbucks have its "distinctive" flavor is the fact that they cook the beans all the same way -- that is they burn the hell out of them. People who have been roasting their own coffee beans for years will be the first to tell you this, and if you try making your own coffee from raw beans you'll notice an immediate difference in flavor and taste -- basically, that it tastes fuller.

But the Starbux faithful don't seem to mind -- whether its burned beans or flavored ash it all tastes the same and as long as you're willing to pay way more than the average price (because you THINK you're getting something of extreme value) they'll continue to sell it.

I'm off the 'bucks. Its been 2 years. I couldn't feel better about my coffee experience. Here's to no more "tall, skinny, shot-of-vanilla, no-whip, extra chocolate" fairy-tale drinks.

On a funnier note: i actually went into a Starbucks last year to prove a point: that you could make up your own Starbucks drink on the spot. I asked the barristers for a "coal-fired" mocha. They looked puzzled, even amused. "Haven't heard of it...did you say, 'coal-fired?'" I told them it meant they should throw an extra shot of chocolate in the mocha and add some chocolate "smokestack" sprinkles over the whip cream. "It's big in New York," I said (I was in San Francisco). "Oh, ok man that sounds cool. Yeah, coming right up."

And there you have it: a coal fired mocha was born. Too bad it was mixed in with burned beans.

How many jobs do you work?

Still Sweating

I'm down in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where apparently, the climate has moved toward tropical rainforest. It rains 5 out of 7 days at noon for about 15 minutes and then again around 10 o'clock at night for another 5 minutes. The humidity is through the roof (when you feel beads of sweat sliding down your legs after being outside long enough for a popsicle you have to know something ain't right) and when the sun is out everyone heads for the shade only to develop inappropriate sweatlines everywhere you can imagine.

But, the word on the street is that 2007 is on pace to be the second hottest year on since 1860, and its only just getting to be July.

I'm ready for some snow.

Facebook gets useful

One of the things i hate about all the socnet craze is lack of actual real-life utility these communities provide. Don't get me wrong, I love cruising through my friend's (and non-friend's) photos and gawking at whats-her-name who now has kids with whats-his-face, but beyond that the socnets out there are really being under utilized as organizing tools for the dirtworld.

Facebook is aiming to change that. I found (finally) an application that they've put together that may actually provide a community service for all of us Facebook users. It's called CarPool and its one of the better apps that FB has put out there for users to organize offline.

It fits into your profile page on FB and allows your friends to see both the rides you're offering or rides you're desiring in the coming days or weeks. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this app is that it actually shows you your history of Carpool usage -- and then breaks down the amount of CO2 you have saved as a result of sharing rides.

Carpooling is gaining in popularity especially among the younger generation who sees conserving energy as a daily activity. Integrating the idea into a socnet like Facebook is taking it to a new level of online organization. I'm glad Facebook is starting to open up applications that aren't all about, say, a fortune cookie that reads me my daily automated fortune.

Largest Photovoltaic Panel in the World

This is the future. I love when politicians say solar isn't viable. Is it really any less viable than putting a man on the moon? Then building a national system of highways that paved the way for the car industry? If we want to make truly clean energy a reality, we have to have leaders who can envision it with us and then have the ability to carry that desire out with a strong plan.

Jerry Falwell

The Reverend Jerry Falwell passed away yesterday in his office at Liberty Univeristy of heart complications. While it's never a good day when we lose another human being on this earth, I have to say I was ok with losing this one. Falwell was perhaps one of the most outspoken bigots when it came to homosexuality, America's God culture and anyone left of center on the political spectrum.

My good buddy Isaac over at the Voices of American Sexuality Magazine has posted a great list of Falwell's best quotes. My favorite:

“Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions”

Um, last I checked the disciples of Jesus asked plenty of questions. Questions are the beginning of progress. It promotes action and is what comes before change occurs, both in thought and in action. If Falwell really believes that Christians shouldn't ask questions than I have to think that Falwell is against progress.

All Hail Loyalty

Are you loyal to your country? This seems to be the question our country's draft-dodging, cocaine-using, recovering alcoholic of a president is asking us. On Monday, Congress passed into law a new national holiday: National Loyalty Day. As if I need a day to remind me of my loyalty. Its like having a day to forgive my sins and cash in my good deeds.

The move, surprisingly passing in both houses without much fanfare or discussion, smacks of autocracy and confusion at the White House. But perhaps the ironic piece of this move is that May 1st has traditionally been May Day, a day of May-poles and flowers. It also is a big labor holiday in my dad's hometown of St.Louis, MO as May 1st was the day that summer construction contracts were signed. Unions have always turned out en masse for May Day celebrations and in the past century May Day has also been known as International Worker's Day dedicated to supporting and celebrating the labor movement and the working class.

So, now we add "Loyalty Day" to the list of things to celebrate on May 1. But how the hell do you celebrate loyalty? And isn't it utterly relative? I could celebrate my loyalty to Red Sox Nation by watching the Red Sox tonight. Does that count? Why do we need a useless "holiday" to remind us of our loyalty?

This gets to the root of the problem with a lot of Republican enforced government measures: they're not specific. Their War on Nouns (War on Poverty, War on Drugs, War on Terrorism) has been nothing short of a complete disaster. Their education programs of late (No Child Left Behind) have wavered and collapsed. And now, to add insult to injury, they can't even come up with a decent holiday to add to the national calendar. I guess expecting a timetable and exit strategy around Iraq was out of the question.

In the end, this holiday will have zero impact on our lives. There are millions of holidays that go by without any sort of real acknowledgment. How did you celebrate Labor Day and Memorial Day last year? Most likely, similar to millions of other Americans, you got off work, went to the beach/barbecue/ballgame/picnic of your choice and had a great day off. What sucks about Loyalty Day is that I can't skip out on work. At least they could give me that, for godsakes.

Superfunds near you

In case everyone forgot about how many biohazard sites we have in this country, the Center for Public Integrity gives us a stern visual reminder: they're in our backyard.
CPI has also found that funding and follow through on clean up around Superfund sites has dropped precipitously since 2000 (go figure -- I guess thats what happens when you appoint former industry lobbyists and friends to the EPA).


Among the most egregious companies contributing to Superfund waste sites (and their cover-up at the local level) are General Motors, Alcoa (largest steel manufacturer in the country), Chevron, BP, CBS Inc., General Electric (so much for that Ecomagination bullshit) and Dow Chemical. But the worst offender, the one that contributes the most with ties to Superfund sites all over the country is the Federal Government (read Department of Defense).