What do you hate the most about human behavior?

Violence, Gullibility, and Apathy. There are other animals such as bears who can be very violent towards each other but we use our consciousness of self to manipulate each other more. There exists such a gross lack of compassion and such apathy. A very dangerous mix. People endure painful existences, exploited by others, because they don't believe they can change things...they are made passive by consumer culture which says work to get that next paycheck and then spend it..."Heck, why not spend your next 20 paychecks right now!"

And so people are stuck in wage labor jobs while the big guys take away more and more of what made their livelihood anything close to decent, social security in oldage, healthcare, a living wage. Passivity/Apathy, demonstrated by America's obsession with the entertainment industry, is a great evil. Informed action to change our world (our lives) for the better, couldn't be more important. As Al Gore has tried to tell people, if we don't stop being so passive, and actually do something about global warming, soon it will be too late. Humans can be beautiful. We have awesome potential but the question is, "Will we decide to reach that potential or to kill ourselves as a species?"

What is something you know you should care about but don't?

"Lots of things if you mean caring in the only way that matters...enough that you go and do something about it. I mean, I really am disgusted by the continuation of human rights violations in the present day, around the world and right at home. However, I don't directly go do much about it unfortunately. Indirectly, I imagine that my work with children does good in the world and I hope that some of my own compassionate philosophy will rub off on them...but this all seems rather too nebulous to take credit for really."

Response: Exactly what I meant. If there is no action to make change, do you REALLY care?

The Sour Side of Honey

Stoat: Fluid dynamics: honey spirals

Yes, honey is beautiful. However, there is apparently more to having honey on your table than all sweetness and beauty...

Though I am a lifelong vegetarian, I was only recently made aware of the ethical dilemma of eating honey. The idea is that we are taking something from the bees that belongs to them and thus making them either work harder or do without, both potentially harmful and unethical things. That the bees try to stop you from taking the fruits of their labor is given as evidence of harm possibly being done. A beekeeper also uses smoke to tranquilize the bees, kills the queen bees on a regular basis to essentially maintain control over the hive, artificially inseminates another one, incites bees to sting out of fear and thus die, and otherwise manipulates these anthropod animals to produce the nutrient rich honey for humans while feeding the bees a pure sugar diet. This is contrary to the basic vegan philosophy that animals should not be exploited or tortured simply to provide us pleasure. Please see the source below for more details on this.

Why Honey is Not Vegan

The Most Fabulous Language Site Online Yet!

*Beware: unabashed advert follows. But I'm not being paid for this, I just found this new website and have been heavily recommending it every since to all language lovers.*

I mean, I loooove ChinesePod.com!! This site is sooooo incredible. For free, you can listen to literally hundreds of podcasts that teach you how to speak chinese in a relaxed, completely friendly setting. They break down each dialogue into small pieces and tell you exactly what it all means. And there are podcasts for every language level from absolute Newbie to seasoned aka advanced speakers...I've been listening to it, learning from it, recommending it and enjoying it for over a month now. You can even try the array of augmentary online features free for 7 days...but I think the free podcast is plenty good enough. It'll certainly keep my ears satisfied indefinitely (they post new podcasts every week). It that's not good enough for you, they are also coming out with a Spanish podcast soon enough.

Presidential Candidates

Because you asked me-

Barack Obama -
I hope he really is a good person. I like that he is starting to show some backbone. I haven't seen that before. No, I don't like him automatically because I'm a so-called "liberal"(and what's wrong with that?) and he's black. And yes, in good ol'America (where the tree limbs are still bent from the memories of so many lynchings), he is considered black by all parties despite the creation of a story by major networks saying something to the contrary...that black people don't think him black enough. This is one of those stories that they can publish without evidence at all. Think about it: If most "black" people in fact just love love love Obama, and the news media got the story wrong...who's to say? The media powers today can say practically anything they like and get away with it. Including the national networks saying that Obama is risking his life in running for president...that someone might kill him. Are they trying to suggest something to their audience? Afterall, there are lots of reasons why candidates might be assassinated (ex. Senator Robert F. Kennedy) and yet they never do say such things about other candidates.

Hillary Clinton - I liked her and respected her plenty right up until she voted to go to Iraq. It's not like everyone did. And somehow she just doesn't seem to cut it anymore...even her excuses for having voted to give Bush that power seem paltry and leave me unsatisfied that she is the strong and more importantly moral person I would like in the office. None of that is why I am under no circumstances voting for her to be the democratic nominee...I'm just sure that there is no chance in hell that she would ever be elected president by this country over a white male unless he were some long-haired hippy and that of course rules out any republicans. Any republican would be more acceptable to the country than electing a b****(their words, not mine) like Hillary. Sorry, the country is still sexist as heck and I won't pretend otherwise like those people who pretended that Ralph Nader might get elected and voted for him, thus getting the rest of us stuck with Bush in power all this time.

Edwards and Others -
So far, the likeliest candidate I've heard of is John Edwards and I can only assume that the corporate media is just filling airtime right now with the other two until we get tired of them and then they will bring out Edwards and/or others to take over the spotlight. By the way, if we are allowed to dream...I'd like to see candidate Dennis Kucinich as president any year, but especially now.

Hilarious

Knights of the Star Trek Table

I love Mash-ups and this one is as smooth as any I have seen yet.




"The crew of the starship Enterprise perform a rousing rendition of the Monty Python classic in this inspired mashup."

Crusades II: See It Again for the First Time

I respected McCain a great deal for coming out strongly against the Bush Administration's/US Military's policies of torture. He was in many ways a lone voice among the Republicans and, though he was harshly criticized for it, he stood up and did the right thing. He restored in me some hope that people, on both sides of the political spectrum, might sometimes stand up for what is humane, what is right (something we see so rarely from prominent politicians of any ilk).

For this reason, I'm very disappointed now to hear that he would support sending over 21,000 more of our young and largely underprivileged sons and daughters (sisters, brothers, fathers, and mothers) to not only join the ranks of the many soldiers who have died there already, but to continue the inhumane occupation of the country and commit further acts of violence against the Iraqi people. Didn't we learn anything in Vietnam? We won't "win" against guerrilla tactics...against a community who has nothing to lose and everything to gain in fighting back against oppression.

To add salt to the wound, McCain, Lieberman, and other bedfellows, elected theoretically at the behest of the electorate but salivating over a GOP presidential nomination next year, have completely disregarded the wishes of the American People in pursuing this policy of maintaining and even drastically expanding our occupation of Iraq.

I can only hope that people speak as strongly for positive change with their vote in 2008 as they did this past November. We desperately need to move toward becoming a much more forward thinking, compassionate country if we want to survive as a nation (and as members of a viable planet).

Evolution Video

This is a interesting video on Evolution.

My Name is Yu Ming

This wonderful film is just chock full of content. It speaks to so many realities of the world today. Sad and somewhat humorous too. Have a look!

You've heard that saying about books and their covers?

This has got to be one of the funniest videos I've seen in a while, even if slightly predictable...See LadyJane at Atomfilms.

I wish I could embed this, but no such luck...

This is a wonderful video of Death Can for Cuite's song "Summer Skin."

The Life of a Cell

Click on the title of this post to see an absolutely remarkable video depicting the myriad of processes going on inside a human cell. It is POSITIVELY BEAUTIFUL. Am sending this along to my friends right away...especially the science teachers.

John Wayne's real name anyone?

John Wayne was born Marion Michael Morrison. No wonder he collected dolls and had the following opinion of the Euro-American genocide of Native Americans:

"I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves."

He's so Cute! You guess which one I'm talking about. Hint: I hate Elmo.

Wayne Brady is so very talented. I miss his talk show (and I normally never watch talk shows).********

Don't Diet, Sleep

Here, via 1stParagraph, is a great incentive to get your beauty sleep, so important to your overall health. Hint: Click on the title of this post.

I love this video by Pink...silly unpopcultured me, I thought this was Gwen Stefani at first and wondered where the social consciousness was coming from. I've never heard Pink before but just might have to give her a try after watching this music video.

Stupid Girls

They got pretty wild in the 50s too! If you dare, check out this automotive commercial from that era when everyone was, ummmm...stiff.

Suggestive Commercial

Liberation of the Mind -

I teach because I want to show children that learning can be a dynamic, fun experience that adds color to their universe. That learning should not be equated to the stark environments and bureaucratic systems within which schools exist but is a freeing force that opens up so many new possibilities in life and empowers us to accomplish whatever we choose in life.
In one sentence, I teach because I want my students to take a moment out from under the influence of so many large power brokers in society, to pull out the headphones, turn off the commercial television, and see their own power to control their own destinies and shape their worlds.