Military · Eco-Chick

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Luminous Fish

This afternoon I managed to catch MR2, the radio show of the Massachusetts Review, broadcast from WMUA at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The guest was Dr. Lynn Margulis, there to talk about her latest book, Luminous Fish, just released from Vermont-based independent press Chelsea Green.

Margulis is best known for her theory of endosymbiosis and her contributions to the Gaia hypothesis. Margulis is also known, however, for criticizing the scientific community and the culture at large for accepting the narrowness of anthropocentrism, sloppiness in the popular press, and crookedness in the medical establishment. Her voice is refreshing at a time when many scientists are too specialized and fearful that they’ll lose their funding for their work to be as influential or relevant as it might otherwise be.

Lambasting the medical establishment, Margulis said today, “I think medical science is as big a contradiction as military intelligence.”

During an interview last October during the Bioneers by the Bay conference, she said, “To think that there is something special or chosen about people is part of the human delusion. Without human delusion we wouldn’t have six thousand million people on Earth and only 10,000 chimps…We expand by bringing our habitat to places it shouldn’t be, it never was.”

For anyone in the New England area, Dr. Margulis will be reading from Luminous Fish tomorrow night (Feb 20) in Memorial Hall at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst starting at 7PM.

book, community, Events, farm, fish, habitat, Home, interview, military, Theory

How Do I Love My Country? Let Me Count the Dead

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by Brianne Goodspeed · 02/11/07

“No More Broken Hearts” rally in Manhattan Beach, California
Each red heart represents an American soldier killed in Iraq.

Just as Manhattan Beach Toyota was advertising its three-day “Heart Stoppin’ Sale” in honor of Valentine’s Day, community members marked the upcoming holiday in a different way. Approximately five hundred people gathered at Polliwog Park on Sunday for a “No More Broken Hearts” rally to honor the more than 3,000 American soldiers killed in Iraq and to call for an end to the war.

According to April Halprin Wayland of Manhattan Beach, “There’s no organization behind this rally, just a group of friends. Back when the 2,000th soldier was killed [in October 2005], we knew that we would also have to commemorate the 3,000th. Later, we realized that it would fall near Valentine’s Day.”

The milestone was actually reached on December 31, 2006 with the death of Dustin Donica, 22.

“The Vietnam War didn’t stop until 58,000 American soldiers died. We think that 3,000 is enough.” says Wayland.

Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) were also present at Sunday’s rally. Twenty-six year old Tim Goodrich, co-founder of IVAW, was deployed to the Middle East three times, once as part of the pre-war bombing raid. After being honorably discharged, Goodrich returned to Iraq as a civilian.

“George Bush was so impatient for the bombing to begin that he couldn’t wait for diplomacy to have any effect,” Goodrich told the crowd.

“I’m here today to stand in solidarity with the majority of the American people that are against this war. The situation in Iraq has gone on too long. There is no military solution.”

Twenty-four year old Jason Lemieux, also a member of IVAW, has completed four tours of duty in Iraq as a Marine.

“We can’t win over there because soldiers are not given a clear mission. We’re fighting an urban war in the middle of a civilian population.”

In Husaybah, a town on the Syrian border so violent that it’s known as the Wild Wild West, Lemieux says, “Our mission–for a 210 day combat mission–was to ‘kill those who needed to be killed and save those who needed to be saved.’ That was it. That was the guidance we got for seven months.”

Before organizers and protesters left Polliwog Park and took to the street, Lemieux told the crowd, “I can see a change in the attitude of the country. It’s not unpatriotic anymore to protest the war.”

Bush, community, death, fall, farm, holiday, Manhattan, military, urban

Good News Bears

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by Starre Vartan · 07/12/06

OK, so this post has nothing to do with bears, but it does have to do with good news.

Green Revolution is Heralded for Scotland – “ALL new property developments in Scotland will need to produce some of their own electricity through a micro-renewable generating plant, under one of Britain’s most radical energy initiatives unveiled by Scottish ministers yesterday.” Go Scots!! See more here. Thanks to RemyC for the link.

U.S. Navy Ordered to Shove It- “Two weeks ago, NRDC attorneys raced to court to block the U.S. Navy from unleashing a barrage of ear-splitting sonar into the waters off Hawaii as part of a massive military training exercise. Whales exposed to mid-frequency sonar have repeatedly stranded and died on beaches around the world — but the Navy refused to adopt even common-sense measures during peacetime exercises to help protect marine life from this deadly threat.

In an infuriating attempt to avoid our lawsuit, the Navy took the unprecedented step — on the eve of the Fourth of July weekend — of declaring itself exempt from the primary U.S. law that requires measures to protect marine mammals. But the court sided with us and found that the Navy’s planned sonar use violated a second key environmental law as well, noting that NRDC had submitted “considerable convincing scientific evidence” of the dangers of sonar to marine life.

The judge prohibited the Navy from going forward with its sonar use as planned and ordered the Navy to sit down with NRDC and decide on a set of protective measures to be put in place during the month-long exercise. In the settlement reached last Friday after days of tough negotiation with our attorneys, the
Navy will be required to create a sonar-free buffer zone around the newly established Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, as well as significantly improve its monitoring of marine mammals during sonar drills and
implement other important safeguards.” Yay Judge!! See background video narrated by Pierce Brosnan here.

A Bright Side to Hurricane-Ravaged Gulf Coast? - A host of environmental groups are working to use Hurricane Katrina’s impact to clean up, green, and fund environmental projects in historically ignored (environmental racism, anyone?) areas of New Orleans and in Mississippi.

“DeJean is optimistic about the future. “Nobody paid attention to Gert Town before the hurricane,” she says. “Now we have people calling us and asking if they can work with us. And we do have some input into how we want our communities to look not just for today, but long range. We want our community revitalized, and I think the chances of that are good.

And Rolfes thinks Katrina has shifted the ground not just literally but politically too. “In Saint Bernard Parish, for years there’s been this untenable situation in which people actually share a fence with a refinery. Before Katrina it would have been unthinkable to talk about putting in a buffer zone between the residential area and the industrial area because people just accepted that situation. Now individuals and even the local government recognize that a buffer would be a good policy. And I think we’re going to get one.” Read about all the positive environmental changes in E Magazine here.

bears, community, electric, electricity, Energy, fur, local, magazine, military, New Orleans, News, produce, skin, video, water, whales, Wildlife

A Barrage of Accessories from the Frontlines of Fashion

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by Summer Rayne Oakes · 03/07/06

Vintage clothing and accessories have always been quite popular among certain fashionista crowds, but it’s definitely been building steam over the past few years. Perhaps it’s what the vintage piece conveys – which is a story behind each novelty product. Military vintage has become of great interest to me as of late, perhaps it’s an awakening reminder of the unrest that is happening around the world, a statement that there is chaos and war amid seemingly peaceful times. In response, its a poignant piece that people can carry around with them throught these trying times.

Check out key accesssory items like this miltary helment back found on Vintage Trends or head over to the corner of Broome and Mercer to Operations NY, which has a host of re-created and vintage military pieces, including a number of cool bags and belts.