Earth day was created in 1970 as a global environmental awareness initiative. It is now observed in 175 countries and supported by progressive action organizations such as the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and the Earth Day Network. (Thank you Wikipedia.)
Some great, green + fun websites for earth day and beyond:
Buy local foods, support local farms. Visit Local Harvest to find local farms and farmers markets. Go out and pet a goat.
Carpool. Check out eRideShare to find local peeps that are looking to share rides. You can even search for someone to carpool across the country with.
Remove yourself from junk mail lists. Check out GreenDimes, sign up to be removed from junk mailings and in turn they’ll send you a dollar, plant a tree on your behalf, or send you a free green ‘zine. Everybody wins! (FYI: When you sign up for this they will ask for credit card information to verify your identity. Sort of like what paypal does. It’s been a few months since I signed up and so far no funny business.)
Once you go black, you never go back… take a walk on the dark side: Blackle is Google powered and eco-friendly.
Recycle your goods and get new ones at freecycle. This site will hook you up with a local group that supports the reuse of anything and everything. Although the site is a little difficult to navigate, once you’re in there seems to be a lot of activity going on in each of the different areas. There’s a slightly loved television stand in York, PA with your name on it.
Go zero!The Conservation Fund will help you measure your very own carbon emissions and tell you how many trees you need to plant to offset your consumption. I’ve got 16 trees to plant this year to outweigh my emission consumptions. Damn. I had better get started. You can do it yourself or they allow you to make a donation for whatever the cost comes out to be to plant your trees.
Get free stuff (by paying for it) at the Sierra Club. Right now, $15 will get you a membership (usually around $35), and a handy backpack for a thank you gift.
Be a green person/dog/baby. I bought my dog these organic treats in the shape of little cupcakes that he refuses to eat from a store I found on Green People. They also have eco friendly and holistic business listings for people too. And their travel section has some really neat stuff.
Save on gas. With gas prices expected to hit $4 this summer, be sure to get your daily feul economy tips for some serious advice on saving money at the gas tank and saving the environment.
Read up. Eco Chick’s blog is as sassy as it is green. And I don’t use the word *sassy* often. Starre Vartan’s website is funny, smart and earth friendly. And how could a girl named Starre not be cool? Be sure to read her list of what not to do for Earth Day. As she says, because mother earth is a woman. Yeah!
It is true, we all need to be a little greener. Without the earth we won’t be here.
April 22 also happens to be the democratic primary in PA, so get out and vote all you registered Pennsylvanians. Polls are open 7am – 8pm, your local polling place is usually within walking distance to your house. Brody and I will be on our way to our designated voting center bright and early wearing our Obama buttons. See you there.
Here. Just look at the picture below. It’s been in all the major print news outlets since Monday morning. In Metro, it was juxtaposed next to a headline with Bush’s comment that the deaths of 4,000 American soldiers in Iraq has not been in vain.
And shame on you, Easter Bunny. I thought you were better than this - a partisan attention whore who jumps in on any photo-op possible, despite the fact that you are inextricably attached to a religiously-based holiday in a country where church and state are to remain separate. For shame, Easter Bunny!! Added to the fact that I got Luna bars instead of Reese’s peanut butter eggs, now I’m really pissed at you (are you calling me fat, Easter Bunny??). You just keep being pink and fluffy and emotionless with those big, coked-out pupils and hug the demon next to you. By the way, don’t get too cozy - his reign of terror ends on January 20, 2008.
Do you have your barf bags ready? Here’s the picture:
March 13th, 2008 under Sex, Politics. [ Comments: 1 ]
This article written by: Elizabeth Grecco
If you’ve seen a newspaper lately, watched TV, clicked on your little safari or explorer icon and checked out msn/cnn/yahoo/whatever, you would know that the Governor of New York was recently involved in a prostitution ring that is massively destructing his reputation and political career. With a record of ordering up smutty favors that may be considered sexually unsafe, Client # 9 didn’t suggest anything to “Kristen” that she couldn’t handle, but he sure did enough humping to rack up an estimated 80 grand in prostitution invoices over the some odd years he was a patron.
Moreover, if you’ve been breathing lately (as you should be), you would also know that there is a big presidential race coming up with a democratic knock-out about to take place in the ring. One candidate, a very powerful woman in her own right, was the victim of the most publicly exposed and smattered case of adultery in history. Does it affect the way we look at her, they way people are voting today? Sure as hell it does. Of course Hillary is feeling the sting of this most recent and blatant hypocrisy, Spitzer was one of her biggest supporters and a powerhouse set to lead the democrats at the National Convention this summer. You better believe that it hurts twice as much considering her penance for a good man who can’t keep his cigars to himself. Hold on tight, Hil, you are about to tumble faster than Fergie’s London bridge.
Even McCain has had his share of torrid sexual allegations, and he’s a good old boy, a snot-nosed republican that is supposed to be a moral standard compared to those crazy and outlandish democrats. At least the hippie democrats keep it interesting, divulging into a world of gay sexploits mixed with a little homeland security in which former Gov. McGreevy attempted to maneuver. Not to say that such infidelities are banished to a certain political party or state line, we seem to be a culture that holds no bounds when it comes to sex in these terms.
Not that sex is a bad thing; I’m the last person to be saying something as asinine as that. It’s the obvious lack of control and the disregard of public respect that our elected officials like to indirectly shove in our faces every time they think we have our backs turned. When did commanding power get passed from the societal leaders of our country to the slutty interns, the ho-fessionals that know how to take a man down by giving him everything that he can’t ask his wife for? Furthermore, why is it that sex can take down governors and bring a president to near impeachment, yet a man who brings us to a war that we shouldn’t be fighting and takes the economy to its knees is allowed to hold us captive as the leader of the free world? It leads us to believe that sex is power and people are power hungry. It also leads us to believe that maybe these men need to find kinkier wives in the first place. No, Hillary Clinton is definitely not kinky.
An age old issue, one that we’ve seen far too many times, is that public figures need to keep their penises, vajayjays, cigars, hands, fingers and toes (?) to themselves. At least do so to stop the cringing that I take on every time I see your disgraced yet smiling Stepford Wife standing by you as you confess your sins at a pulpit of newshounds and flashing bulbs. It degrades the choices that the voting public has made as a whole in this democratic society, and quite frankly, I’m sick of hearing about some fat balding politician and his lewd behavior with an overpriced hooker/underpaid intern. Sheeze. A guy can’t even tap his toe to the muzak playing in the bathroom and remain under the radar anymore. At least it keeps us from having to hear about Britney Spears’ crotch for the 13,653,234,325th time….. but then again, I haven’t quite decided which is worse.
Please note: In no way am I condoning the use of the lyrics to any Fergie song in any way except for an occasional instance of satirical madness.
I could go on for days about my issues with “conservatives” - namely, those of a Republican, Christian, and homophobic variety (see “Congress”). However, I came across one (of many of course, let’s be real - fanatics are usually assholes) example of a liberal being a complete shithead.
Yeah - shithead. That’s the technical term for the person I’m about to describe.
Actually, I don’t even know who I’m talking about. Why is that? Because all I know is that this asshat drives a crappy silver Saturn wagon with the bumper sticker reading… wait for it… Read more »
A friend sent me this image of a Political Compass Test that I myself had taken as part of a Political Science class in college. Here, the current presidential candidates are plotted out according to the views they are campaigning with. I find it interesting how scewed the American socio-political perspective is in light of this chart. For example, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are viewed as left-wingers when in fact, they arent liberal minded at all! How did America get this way? Im not saying we should be more liberal, just that perhaps we wouldnt be in such and ideological quagmire if there was greater variety of ideas. It looks to me like almost all of our Presidential options are coming from the same point of view.
Now I ask you the reader, how do you view the candidates? Take the Political Compass Test for yourself and see where you fall on the chart. How many of the candidates align with your views? Respond here on randomn3ss lets see which candidates really are candidates of the people!
In a bid to earn the right to bear the nickname “Pennsyl-tucky,” the commonwealth of Pennsylvania closed today because it forgot that you need money to do things. Namely, things that require 24,000 employees to help run, oh you know, a little thing called THE STATE.
I’m hoping that this temporary shutdown includes the Bureau of Compliance in the PA Dept of Revenue, which is currently investigating the purchase of my car from my great Aunt (it was a gift, you don’t need to pay taxes on a gift… unless the gift is worth $8000, apparently. Oops). The temporary closure does include the DMV, which gives me yet another day to procrastinate on renewing my license/put finishing touches on crazy outfit for my new license photo. This would also explain why I was stuck for 90 minutes on a one-lane Route 81 South last night despite there being no construction workers around.
Thankfully, the prisons and casinos remain open [insert “Dueling Banjos” themefrom Deliverance here]. Wind storms from the collective sigh of relief should be expected to sweep acrossNew Jersey.
It seems kind of ridiculous that PA has a surplus and simply isn’t spending it because of government gridlock (the governor is a soullessDemocrat; the state Senate, even more soulless Republicans). I mean, evenI, with all my complex needs,can make a budget. It goes something like this:
Rent = $635.50; Car insurance = $230; Jack Daniels = $45; cheesesteak (2xweek) = $12; energy drinks = $10/week. It’s really easy. Seriously. Ed Rendell could learn something from me.
On Saturday, a video surfaced on mainstream Greek media outlets depicting Greek police officers brutalizing migrant workers. In the video (taken on a camera phone), the officers force the 2 men to beat up one another as well as beatings from the officers themselves.
Apparently, the video has been widely circulated amongst Greek police officers over the past year. The video made its way to the general public when it was uploaded to a publicly shared site. The ever-vigilant Indymedia.org jumped all over it and delivered it to the worldwide masses.
Currently, Greek Prime Minister Karamanlis is still standing behind his Minister of Public Order. This is understandable as incidents such as these have sadly become commonplace within the Greek police.
Please be advised that the video is rather unsettling. Video Link
Al Gore’s written a new book and just like that depressing video of his, he’s right again. Here is a video of Mr. Gore giving a speech on his new book, The Assault on Reason. As much as I am irritated by the way in which he gets his point across, I recognize that in order to give a politician or anyone the opportunity to say something worth saying, I have to sit and listen for more than 30 seconds. If you care at all about what is happening in your country, give Al Gore 10 minutes to give you a clue. He really hits the nail on the head and explains how Americans have been asleep at the wheel. Americans shouldn’t have to keep missing the point.
The other night while flipping through channels on the TV trying to fall asleep, a story came on one of the news channels about Bush driving on his ranch in Texas without a seatbelt. OK, newsworthy for a TV channel that shows nothing but news. A few minutes later, my local news channel covered the same bit. For those who missed it, this is what ABC News had to say:
President George W. Bush was caught on tape Sunday driving his pick-up truck in Crawford, Texas without a seatbelt.
The tape shows the president casually cruising on his ranch in his white Ford pick-up truck with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in the passenger seat. Bush smiles for the camera, his seatbelt visibly unbuckled.
In Texas, it is illegal to drive on public roadways without a seatbelt. However, the law is different on private property.
“If he was on private property, he was not breaking the law,” said Tom Vinger, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Maybe Im just being a bit off color here, but why the fuck are we giving this small, not so important piece of information so much coverage? By writing about it, I myself am helping spread the word, however Im more pissed that someone took the time to contact the Texas Department of Public Safety for an official word on this, when there are millions of other things we could and should be focusing our attention on.
NOTE: The views expressed herein represent the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the website or other authors.
President Bush vetoed the Iraq Pullout bill this weekand it shocks me that seemingly nobody sees what a brilliant public image move it was for BOTH parities. This had very little to do with the troops or the war and quite a bit to do with the politicians in Washington looking good.
For the Democrats:
The party can say that they did everything they could to get the troops out tried to take a stand against the White House. They can say how they gave it all they had and that there was very little they could do to override the Presidential Veto. In essence, they heard the cries of the American public and tried to act on their behalf.
For the Republicans:
The party can say that they did their best to reach across the aisle and work with the Democrats. They can also say that they too took a firm stand in an attempt to get U.S. troops out of Iraq in a timely manner. They are able to tell their supporters, We attempted to bring the troops home, but the President has a vision and we stand behind him.
However, in reality, neither party did anything of substance. The Republicans knew going in that 1. Bush would veto the bill and 2. The Democrats dont have nearly enough support to override the veto. So, it was a safe measure to support even if they didnt agree with it.
Remember, a majority of these politicians are seeking re-election within the next 2 years, so they need to ensure having a good public image. When any of their constituents complain about the troops not coming home, they can simply fall back on the phrase, We tried.
