America Runs on Pollution

While picking up trash on the beach today, I was horrified by the amount of styrofoam cups I discovered in one stretch of land. Unfortunately, the majority of the cups were from Dunkin Donuts. This certainly makes sense in NH where we have no Starbucks. I would hope that anyone reads this thinks twice before polluting one of the Earth's most beautiful resources.

I guess it really is true that America Runs on Dunkin. Hopefully the company can phase out non- biodegradable cups.

-JG

Rip Torn Waves

I'm totally amped on the "All Aboard the Crazy Train" DVD. If you want to see some gnarly wave riding by some of the world's greatest surfers... check it out. I have watched it four times in two days and cannot stop thinking about hitting the water. I wish someone would hand over $300+ so i could make the snag on a dry suit.

Also, I am psyched on this new cd I heard. The band is called Amon Tobin and the disc is titled Supermodified. It is weird electronic/ambient/drum and bass kind of stuff. Perfect surfing tunes.

-JG

Ho-Ho-Holy Man Speaks Something New To My Ears

For any of you who may have missed Meet the Press this morning, I want to ask you to watch it online. Tim Russert invited Rick Warren, an Evangelical Pastor on his show to discuss religious faith in American life and politics. Some of you may know Warren as the "guy who invited Barack Obama to his church." Others may know him as the author of the world famous, "The Purpose Driven Life."

I had not heard of this man but let's just say I was pretty impressed. I think that he has the RIGHT idea about how religious leaders should approach global problems. He is basically saying (I'm going to attempt to paraphrase a 20 minute segment of his dialogue) that just because he is religious doesn't mean that he can't work with those who don't hold the same ideas about faith that he does. One of his lines was that him and his gay friends disagree about many things but he would love to work with them in the fight against aids because it is a problem that all human beings should be concerned with. Basically, he is saying that if you isolate yourselves as the extreme right, you will never get ANYTHING done. In order to fight global problems, you have to be able to work with as many people as possible. This will clearly not happen if you only are willing to work with people who have the same point of view as you on everything.

I like the way this guy thinks. He donates 90% of his earnings to charity and seems to have the right idea about how to better humanity.

Happy Holidays.

-JG

The War on Drugs

I am sitting here watching a press conference with John Walters, the White House Drug Counselor. A journalist just stood up and asked him the following question:

"60% of college students nationwide rely on federal financial aid to attend college. I know that when a college student is caught using drugs they are normally expelled from school...never to return. Do you think this is an effective policy for achieving the overall goal of lower drug use?"

A BRILLIANT QUESTION.

And John Walters response: "Well, we don't kick kids out of school. I think what we have tried to focus on is prevention programs. Trying to get the schools to stop the drug use before it happens."

JESUS H. CHRISTMAS. I swear that to be a member of this administration you are required to take Rhetoric 101. Does this response sound at all familiar to you? Oh maybe something like 'to prevent kids from having sex we try to emphasize prevention (a.k.a. ABSTINENCE?).

This administration needs to realize it is operating in the 21st century. This is not 1825!

All I can say is wow.

-JG

Tehran Hostage What?

To my great surprise, I opened the Boston Globe editorial page this morning to something I was ACTUALLY interested in reading. Ex-President Jimmy Carter wrote an informative piece about the release of his latest book. The topic of the book is the peace process in Palestine/Israel. For someone like me, who is largely in the dark about most of the important history that has fueled this conflict in the past century, the article laid out some very pertinent information.

Jimmy Carter is the best ex-president to have ever graced this country. It saddens me to know that his image is tarnished by his relatively inactive presidency. Not to say that Carter wasn't a hard worker in office. I just think that the Tehran Hostage and Energy Crises really put the kibosh on all the positive work he did (i.e. the Camp David Accords, etc...).

Check out this article if you need some good talking points for debate on this ever-pressing issue.

Tombstone Blues

The Post's, Valerie Strauss, wrote a great article today about the National Science Teachers Association's reluctance to distribute 'An Inconvenient Truth' to schools around the country. Laurie David, the producer of the movie, approached the association in response to a number of requests from educators nationwide. She claimed that majority of the letters she received discussed the fact that there is an absence of teaching tools available to those who seek to teach their pupils about global warming and it's harmful effects. When the organization said they would not distribute the film, she generously opted to give away 50,000 copies to those teachers that asked for them.

Upon first glance, I thought that Ms. David was engaging in shameless self-promotion. However, after careful consideration, I changed my mind. The NSTA should absolutely endorse this film. This is a group who aims to enhance the science curriculum of our nations science students. Global Warming is arguably the most important scientific issue in our nations history. AIDS does not matter if the world is covered by water. Nothing will! That's the point of this whole issue.

In pondering potential solutions, I came up with a few things that we can all do to better the situation:

1) Press your local government to make recycling easier (In Boston, we don't even have recycling bins)
2) Turn down the heart during periods of low usage (night time/ when you leave your house or apt.)
3) Put pressure on the auto industry to make smaller cars safer. With the influx of SUV's on the road, many soccer moms
have been scared shitless by the prospect of being crushed by these vehicles.
4) Start teaching our children the benefit of keeping the earth clean.

Al Gore has spent almost 30 years compiling these cold, hard, irrefutable facts. He took the material that was buried deep in science journals and EPA laboratories and made it available to the common man. We as a nation should be harnessing the power of this excellent teaching tool. As we have seen with phenomena such as racism, it is normally taught at a young age. If we instill children with proper attitudes towards the environment, I guarantee the state of our global environment will be improved.

You're either part of the problem of part of solution. I myself have decided on the latter.

Fake Plastic Trees

If you have not seen "An Inconvenient Truth," I would seriously recommend it.

Here are some useful environmental protection links.

Climate Crisis

Save Our Seas

Check these out.

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest”

I was compiling this massive entry on my recent re-reading of Night by Elie Wiesel and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. The post basically reflected on how I have immersed myself in reading about the consequences of war. I accidently erased it, however, by ending safari suddenly. Therefore, I entitled my post with a quotation from Elie Wiesel.

I have been extremely excited about the United Students for Peace and Justice "Act Now to End the War " protest that is taking place on January 27, 2006 in Washington D.C. People in this country complain a lot (myself included). The democratic process doesn't respond much to whining. It does respond, however, to mass amounts of people marching on the capital demanding change. Let's show this administration how strongly we disagree with the Iraq war. We need to bring our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, and partners home.

ACT NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR GUILT!

My country is torturing it's own people.

The Times posted a very illuminating article this morning describing the internment conditions of an American Security Contractor in Iraq. I have always taken issue with the idea of security contractors being used as part of the American Military Force in Iraq. There are obvious issues that arise when a country decides to send unmarked men and women into combat.

This article highlights the main issue: identification. The man in the story, Donald Vance, was a security contractor who infiltrated a suspicious Iraqi company. The U.S. government thought the company might be involved in trading weapons with Iraqi militias. When he went to inform U.S. government officials, he was arrested and sent to a detention site in Baghdad called Camp Cropper. The officials said that they could not validate the sources Mr. Vance claimed were responsible for his presence in Iraq. This is a problem! If you send in unmarked contractors, there are likely to be indentity issues. This can lead to problems of friendly fire, etc... He was kept in the prison for over 3 weeks under extremely harsh conditions. Read the article for the sordid details surrounding the conditions at Cropper.

This is a fundamental issue that has been on the table for a long time. The U.S. government needs to once again ask itself a series of crucial questions, which have thus far gone unasked and unanswered.

Question 1: Why are we being forced to send private contractors to Iraq?
Answer: Because this is war is so unpopular that we can't find anyone to enlist.

Question 2: What should be the logical solution to this problem?
Answer: Develop plans to start gradually removing our troops from the region in order to preserve the rights of both Iraqis and Americans.

We need to get organized and work to ensure that No Americans are subjected to these horrible rights violations. I think Vance had it right when he said that it is absurd that even Saddam Hussein had more rights than he did. If we're going to attempt the installation of a democracy in Iraq, it that seems that our leaders should have a good idea of what a liberal democracy entails.

Illuminating the moments of the motionless world.

This is the first post of a blog I hope to update regularly. As I grow older and continue to educate myself, I become increasingly concerned and, at the same time, excited about historical events and the potential for the future. This blog will serve as a place to release my thoughts, call friends to action, and seek answers to questions I cannot answer myself. I look forward to exploring a myriad of topics, ideas, and concepts in the weeks, months, and years to come.

-Jason