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My Blog: Off to the wild blue yonder
By: waynephillips2008

I was reading an article in Time Magazine about this really cool eco-village in up state New York. These folks are really living the good life. They live and work on a 175 acre farm that seeks to be very environmentally friendly. They grow their own organic fruits and vegetables. They have a common kitchen where they can cook and eat together. And they have a lake on the property for fishing, boating, and just good old fun and relaxation. Most, if not, all the homes are solar powered and have other energy saving devices as well.

What could be more fun and exciting than this? Am I crazy or what? I'm thinking (again) why not find a bunch of other people who like to do these sort of things and go for it. We only live once. So we get together head to East Texas. Find a property with about 150 acres of wide open space. Buy it, build on it (GREEN OF COURSE) and live on it. I'm talking about jumping off the edge. Taking the plunge. Escaping the cement jungle. It can and should be done. I'm ready to go for it.

There should be a way to build a cooperative kind of spirit around this idea. 12 to 15 hard working intelligent people could pull this off in a heartbeat. We could create eco-village mania so to speak. It could and should be an income producing property. It should be managed by the owner members and should set an example and inspire many more ventures or I should say adventures like it.

So what are we waiting for city slickers. Give me an email and tell me what you think.

Published On: 2/17/2008

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Harvest News Blog: "WAVE FARMS" ...Clean Energy and Desalination for OZ!
By: Green.colonies.com

Wave power tipped as 'holy grail' for Australia

AFP, 17 May 2007 - New technology harnessing wave energy could be the "holy grail" for providing electricity and drinking water to Australia's major cities, Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane said Thursday.

The technology, developed with the help of more than 770 million dollars (636 million US) in seed funding from the government, works through fields of submerged buoys tethered to seabed pumps.

The buoys move in harmony with the motion of the passing waves, pumping pressurised seawater to shore to run turbines and pass through a desalination plant.

"The constancy of the waves even when the surface is dead calm means .... READ MORE ABOUT WHEN THE "WAVE FARMS" ARE TO BE CONSTRUCTED... Click HERE: http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MjQ2NTg

See a SCHEMATIC of the system, VISIT the Carnegie Corporation at: http://www.carnegiecorp.com.au/tech/wave-energy/what-is-ceto.php

Published On: 5/22/2007

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Harvest News Blog: Get your DREAM GREEN JOB...
By: Green.colonies.com

Get your GREEN DREAM JOB

This is not another generic “How to Write the Resume for Success” or “Sell Yourself” self-help article. I am simply going to let you in on a happenin’ Grassroots networking opportunity that has likely already sprouted up in your neck of the woods. It will have you spreading the GOOD GREEN WORD about the authenticity and the inevitable effectiveness of this unique Social gathering.

ENTER: Greendrinks / VENUE: Your local pub, Yoga Studio, or even Art Museum / SPOTLIGHT: Eco-Activists, Professionals, Students, and “HIP-pies”; such as- Green Building Consultants and Design Firms, Organic Farmers, Owners of Eco-conscious PR firms and Fair Trade Chocolate Companies, Bio-Diesel Retailers and Solar Power Engineers, students of Sustainable Economics and Urban Planning….. Your chance to get face-to-face and celebrate with people who you want to work for –or probably will work with- in the near future!

One Tuesday a Month, 6-ish p.m.: Beer and Wine are free-flowing, smiles light up the room, the food table is loaded w/ local goodies, name tags speak “open door”, and you have one mission….Drink, Eat, Shake hands, and Share your ECO-Passion with other GREENDRINKERS.

Last Tuesday I strolled into Evo, a Surf/ Skate/ Snowboard Retailer and Gallery in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. As one of the hosts of the Seattle Greendrinks that month, Evo opened up its Warehouse-size shop to about 500 Green Industry Players and wanna-be eco-activists—potentially, like yourself. Everyone there wants to connect to others that are just as excited about the Green Revolution! Thus, you’re bound to enter into the inner circles of Eco-Blissdom and fall ‘in love’ with the vibe of the social Eco-scene. Greendrinks has what it takes to keep people coming back for more- and telling their friends who have the same interest in Green about it! So, the party grows and the Dream Green job network explodes with opportunity!

Now go Network and connect with those who share your interest in re-constructing the Conventional business models to reflect this era of Green. Green is the place to be and you want a part of it not JUST because it is thriving, but because, DEEP DOWN, you know the Green Industry is making this world a better place to live for you today and for your kids in the future.—It’s only Natural to wanna be a part of that!

Start a Greendrinks in your town, city, or country….visit: http://greendrinks.org or if you’re in Seattle find a Greendrinks celebration at: www.seattlegreendrinks.org Tell Gabriel that Maggie sent ya! CHEERS!
ARTICLE SOURCE : http://green.colonies.com/Green.colonies.com/blog/editpost.aspx?blogid=941769

Interest-based Social Networking is the way you captivate the hearts and minds of your future employers, Green Industry mates, friends and neighbors. I have been to GREENDRINKS- SEATTLE four times now and I have witnessed its exponential growth and been a beneficiary of its authenticity. Authenticity is a blend of confidence, truth, influence, leadership, passion and cannot be faked. Greendrinks arose from peoples’ authentic call to others in their community for a revolution in the way we carry out our day to day activities- from the morning cup ‘o joe , to the afternoon business lunch, ending in the last bulb switched off. It all starts with caring and then sharing and this is where the job opportunity appears and my lesson is taught. –Bless, Maggie

Maggie Hoback is the leader and inspiration for the Green Living interest-based online social networking community at Colonies.com. Similar to the Greendrinks social network, yet Green.colonies.com has with a 24hrs a day meeting space, ECO- newsfeeds, membership profiling capacity, photo sharing, and more! Her interest in Green Living took off while pursuing her degree in Agribusiness. With studies focusing on Sustainable Development, Fair Trade, and Organic Agriculture, Maggie found a passion in publicizing the importance of creating a sustainable future for all lives on earth. By creating a Community space for Eco-conscious individuals and organizations to harvest their own and shared knowledge and experiences so that we become more efficient Stewards of the Earth. Join at: www.green.colonies.com , part of the Colonies.com Network. People.Passion.Purpose.

Published On: 5/15/2007

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Harvest News Blog: Biofuel will not deliver ALL of the SOLUTIONS for the Green Revolution
By: Green.colonies.com

While at University, I studied Agribusiness and thus made to complete courses in Crop, Dairy, and Water Sciences -to name a few. During an Organic Agriculture course, as we spoke on growing Corn for Ethanol and using veggie products for blending with Diesel or on it's own as B100 biodiesel, a rancher's son spoke up about the deficiencies matched with the demands put on production of crop-based fuels. He'd lived and worked his family farm since birth and contended that Biofuel crops create carbon dioxide pollution equalled to the carbon emissions of oil use---through crop production and harvest systems!

HHMMM...Well, the lesson I take away from his insights are aligned with my own....only....my perspective is this:

Don't rely on one source for everything...Diversify...Yeah...BioFuel is not THE answer...it's ONE of the solutions...Hydrogen and Solar are options too....we all just need to continue to keep open to new and alternative sciences, technologies, and suggestions!

Buy locally, Think Globally...purchase from your local ma and pop shops and make sure that they practice Social Responsibility.

Read what MSNBC is saying about relying solely on Biofuels:

(Sourced from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18551000/)

While saying bioenergy represents an “extraordinary opportunity” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it warned that “rapid growth in liquid biofuel production will make substantial demands on the world’s land and water resources at a time when demand for both food and forest products is also rising rapidly.”

Published On: 5/8/2007

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Harvest News Blog: "Farm of the Future"- ABC World News Special on Aquaculture By: Green.colonies.com
Published On: 5/6/2007 Add/View Comments (1)

My Journal: thanks rodney... By: KYLE
Today is International Disadvantaged People's Day. Please send an encouraging message to a retarded friend... just as I've done. I don't care if you lick windows, screw farm animals, take the short bus or occasionally shit yourself... You hang in there sunshine, you're fcking special! Published On: 3/8/2007 Add/View Comments (0)

Giraffe Entourage: NYE 2007 - Snowboard.com tribute By: Rodney
Published On: 1/5/2007 Add/View Comments (0)

My Blog: werrrrrrrd. the family.
By: NoGoodTrying

Grow More Potby Jello Biafra
From I Blow Minds for a Living, recorded at Slim's, San Francisco, Nov 21, 1990

Does anybody out there know that for the first time in American history the U.S. Army was used in a war operation against the American people? Right near here, up in Humboldt County about 200 miles north of San Francisco right near a town called Shelter Cove, get this: three- to four-hundred American G.I.s dressed with automatic rifles and fully armed for battle, fanned out on maneuvers through the woods, backed up by a dozen Blackhawk attack helicopters. The mountain people up there were frightened out of their wits! They thought there was a war going on, especially the ones that had soldiers kicking in the doors to their cabins and putting guns to their heads in front of their children.

Why!? Who was the enemy in this war? Not the communists! Not Saddam Hussein! Not Earth First! or even the spotted owl. No! The enemy they called out the army to put down, secretly, so few people outside of Humboldt would get alarmed as possible, it wasn't even a person or an army or a terrorist group! It was a plant, the marijuana plant.

And they actually did manage to find a few for the G.I.s to pull up, and then they had to fly in more from the government stash so the pile would look big enough when they lit the bonfire for the network TV news cameras, so that they could say "Yes! Another triumph in the Drug War!"

Drug War. War. The American army sent to war against the American people. And we're supposed to feel relieved and secure and protected. Protected from what?!

A lot of people with more guts than I'll ever have risked their life and limb all last summer at the Earth First! Redwood Summer Action up in Humboldt County. They were chaining themselves to redwoods that were three times wider than they were, 800 years old, they were spread-eagled, as the saws buzzed right over their heads. They stood in the dirt as the bulldozers charged them and stopped right at their toes. Or people waved clubs at them, charged them with logging trucks, shotguns, you name it. All to try to save some of the last unspoiled virgin forest we have left anywhere in this country from being chopped down and turned into toilet paper, TV Guides and the Weekly World News.

On the other side the loggers saying "What about our jobs!? What about our families!? What about our lives?! You needed wood and cardboard to make those protest signs!"

We need fuel! We need paper! It's almost gone! Where are we gonna get more? The answer, for centuries, has been right under our nose: grow more pot!

If we're serious about saving the earth, saving the ozone and our freedom to go about saving the earth and the ozone, we should start by paying all those dirt-poor coca farmers in South America and out-of-work loggers in Fortuna and Eureka, and Midwest family farmers and rust-belt families too, to all get together and grow more pot!

Why? Get ready for this...! There's a book out called The Emperor Wears No Clothes. The author's name is Jack Herer. It's published by Queen of Clubs, and I think there's ads for it in High Times, or NORML, the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, could direct you to a copy I'm sure, and in this book, among other places, it is written that before the 20th century, the marijuana plant provided almost all the world's paper, all the world's clothing and textiles, and almost all the world's rope.

According to none other than the U.S. Department of Agriculture you can make four times as much paper from one acre of hemp plants as you can from an acre of trees. And instead of chopping down all the redwoods in Humboldt County and turning Northern California, Oregon and Washington and Appalachia into the Sahara Desert, if you do it with hemp plants, you can just grow another crop a few months later and make more paper! At one-quarter the cost of making paper from wood pulp and only one-fifth the pollution. The ancient Romans knew this and grew it, Henry VIII made each farmer in old England grow their share, because they knew if you want the strongest natural fiber there is, you all have gotta do your part for the King and grow more pot!

And we did, too! Guess what Levi jeans were originally made out of? And guess what American flags used to be made out of? And guess what the early drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were written on? And if that's too un-Christian for you, guess what they made Guttenberg and King James Bibles out of? Guess what you can use to power a car? You can get at least four times as much cellulose to make gasohol or methanol from hemp stems as you can from a corn stalk. Which along with solar energy would be a great way to avoid dying for oil in Saudi Arabia.

In the 1920s and 1930s most American cars and farm machinery had the option of running on gas or on methanol; most racing cars still do run on methanol. And George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis on their plantations and smoked it, too!

In the 1760s in the American colonies you could even be jailed for not growing pot! Because that was part of the key to becoming economically independent from Britain. Hemp was legal tender in the Americas, a substitute for money, from 1630 clear up to the early 1800s. And hemp seeds are a great source of protein, better than soybeans, and it's cheaper than soybeans, too. Or so says the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Marijuana is legal for medical use in 34 states used to treat glaucoma and pain caused by cancer, and you can digest more protein from a hemp seed than a soybean seed. It's even shown some signs at being able to combat herpes. And, guess what kind of a parachute Mr. Drug War Junta-Man himself George Bush used when he bailed out of that bomber in World War II?

Hemp was illegal by then, but farmers were briefly ordered to grow it again in this country for the war effort and all, and the U.S. Army had their own stash all along in the colonies in the Philippines.

So, how did everything get turned around so damn bad? Doesn't it strike you as a little dumb that we burn oil and choke ourselves and chop down all our trees and ruin innocent people's lives by branding them criminals and throwing them in jails, or sending them off to drug camps, or taking all their property and selling it before they're brought to trial? In the process, making crack and heroin cheaper and easier to get than pot? Why do we do this when we don't have to?

Meanwhile the Police Chief of L.A., Darryl Gates gets front page approval for telling a U.S. Senate committee that pot smokers should be shot on sight. Because smoking pot is treason because, after all, it's illegal.

Why was marijuana cracked down on? And why was it done so violently? Well ... Ready?!

In 1936 Popular Mechanics magazine hailed the invention of a new machine to process hemp, predicting that marijuana/hemp would once again become the world's largest cash crop. This did not at all sit well with people like Hearst Paper Manufacturing or Kimberly-Clark or other cutthroat multinationals who happen to have large timber holdings. It didn't sit to well with tobacco barons for obvious reasons, and it sure as hell didn't sit too well with old buddies DuPont. Hemp processing uses only one-fifth the chemicals need to process wood pulp, and DuPont had just patented a new wood pulp sulfide process, and DuPont's patented plastic fibers had just passed up hemp as the No. 2 fiber, next to cotton, and they wanted to keep it that way!

And the last thing the big drug companies wanted was to lose their share of the ever lucrative disease industry market, to more affordable medicine made from marijuana or other natural ingredients because, check this out, you can't own and make money off a patent for medicine in this country, unless the medicine has chemicals in it. If it's all natural ingredients, you can't patent it. Maybe that's why we don't have access to a cure for cancer or AIDS, or why the health food store I go to keeps getting harassed by federal authorities for selling herbal medicines.

Meanwhile, guess who owns Congress? So marijuana was outlawed in 1937 and they fanned the racism fires playing the racism card just like they do when they want to crack down on rock-and-roll or rap or hip hop or something like that. They said that smoking marijuana might cause you to fall under the influence of listening to jazz! I believe that it was even said on the floor of Congress that marijuana had to be banned because smoking it might make a black man look at a white woman twice. And let's not forget that U.S. Treasury Department funded documentary film, called, "Reefer Madness!" So marijuana was outlawed as devil weed in 1937. Only 53 years ago it was legal. Need I say more, on why our beloved fearless leaders go out of their way to censor our access to information so damn much? Can you imagine the mass outrage if this kind of stuff ever really got out? And people knew that this big drug problem that they keep reading about and hearing about is being caused by the government themselves? And people knew how easily each one of us individually could turn our ecological and human crisis around without resorting to Nazi bullshi*t like oil wars and drug wars by just saying no! to George Bush.

And if people knew that the very companies that provide us with such crucial conveniences as Kleenex, paper towels and junk mail, have systematically and brutally rearranged every single one of our lives so that we are literally wiping our ass with out own future?

And it doesn't have to be this way! I mean, I'll tell you, I do feel kind of funny saying all this because I used to be a pothead and I hate smoking the stuff, and the whole low-energy stoner Deadhead vibe that comes with it. But, you don't need to smoke pot to realize that the real drug problem in this country is not the drugs. And we can help solve drug problems, crime problems, environmental problems - even our racial problems if we say no to George Bush and get together and grow more pot!

Published On: 8/5/2006

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