We Speak For Earth

ikenbot: Every era has its own way of degrading women, we go...

ikenbot — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:09:48 -0400

Every era has its own way of degrading women, we go from calling them witches, to bitches, to sluts. It’s been going on for far too long, it may not be such a problem from the privileged male that thrives from it, but it’s putting down the female, whom are equals to us.

ikenbot: Science Query for the Presidential Candidates I...

ikenbot — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:05:05 -0400

ikenbot:

Science Query for the Presidential Candidates

I wonder when will the public start demanding scientific literacy among their governing officials, including presidential candidates. We were not a country founded on religious beliefs yet it floods our country’s interest for some odd reason. Would it be too much to ask these people have at least a basic, well-rounded sense of the scientific method, much like we require the same level of expertise from our doctors, scientists, teachers, etc.?.

Here’s a nice article via SciAm that reiterates a similar concern:

3 Science Questions to Ask U.S. Presidential Candidates

“As you may already be aware from my previous posts, The Guardian U.S. and NYU’s Studio 20 journalism lab have teamed up to push a project called The Citizens’ Agenda into the media discourse surrounding the U.S. presidential 2012 election. The idea: find out what you–the citizens–want the candidates to be discussing over the next four months – usually meaning questions of substance about policy rather than horserace and gotcha questions so pervasive in mainstream media.”

Continue to Full Article

ikenbot: One of the many things wrong with the world.

ikenbot — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:16:45 -0400

ikenbot:

One of the many things wrong with the world.

ikenbot: ‎”Fight for your world, not your country.”

ikenbot — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:00:20 -0400

ikenbot:

‎”Fight for your world, not your country.”

An Extensive List on How to Fix the Economy

ikenbot — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:11:39 -0400

ikenbot:

— Legalize Weed.

"We got letters saying, ‘You guys are going to get what you deserve. You’re going to bring drug..."

ikenbot — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:40:13 -0400

“We got letters saying, ‘You guys are going to get what you deserve. You’re going to bring drug dealers, all this crime and lowlife in here.’”

- Lucas Valley Estates Homeowners Association board member Carl Fricke • Discussing the anger over a decision by director George Lucas to turn some of his California land into low-income housing, not long after the director scuttled plans to build a digital studio there. The studio created frustration among homeowners — the prospect of low-income housing has instilled outright anger and uneasiness into the residents. “It’s inciting class warfare,” claimed one resident group head. Lucas, meanwhile, claims he was trying to do something good for the area. His community outreach spokesperson at Lucasfilm, Tom Forster, put it like this: “George, being the great guy that he is, doesn’t want to build more housing for rich people since Marin is loaded with them.” Boom. (via shortformblog)

Class warfare (n) - Being reminded that poor people exist outside the context of a soft news story on local TV.

(via nixonplumbingco)

How They Rule Us

ikenbot — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:13:00 -0400

How They Rule Us:

Capitalism, as we have seen, is a class divided society based on exploitation. Under capitalism a tiny highly privileged minority rules over the large majority and lives off their labour. How do they get away with it ?

The answer, as the Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci pointed out, is by a combination of force and consent. In reality force and consent are very closely intertwined and mutually reinforce each other, but for the moment I shall discuss them separately.

The element of force is primarily exercised by the state, that network of interlocking institutions – armed forces, police, judiciary, prisons, government bureaucracies etc – which stands over society and claims general authority, including a monopoly of legitimate force.

jtotheizzoe: Explore the Map of Life! MappingLife.org is live,...

ikenbot — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:58:30 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

Explore the Map of Life!

MappingLife.org is live, and incredibly informative. It has collected biodiversity survey data for tens of thousands of terrestrial and aquatic species around Earth. And it’s all there for you to search and draw maps with.

The data comes from field observations as well as other sources, like museum specimens. You can toggle several different types of observations for each species that you choose, and overlay them on customized Google-based maps.

The map above is one I made just now, showing the known habitats of a few bluefin tuna species (genus Thunnus, because they are critically threatened), African elephants (Loxodonta africana, also fighting with humans to retain their habitat) and sea otters (Enhydra lutris, because I love otters). Here’s a tutorial video.

It’s a tool that’s as much educational as it is fun, and a way for anyone to take part in biodiversity research. It’s all of our planet. They’re all of our species.

Go. Play. Learn. Conserve.

teleological: The Ecological Footprint of Nations The...

ikenbot — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:58:18 -0400

teleological:

The Ecological Footprint of Nations

The ecological footprint is a measurement of the consumption and carbon-dioxide emissions of both individuals and countries. It is expressed by Global Footprint Network (GFN), an NGO, in terms of “global hectares”—the number of hectares of land and sea required to produce the quantities consumed and emitted. This is calculated from the average productivity of six overlapping sorts of area use: arable, forests, grazing land, built-up areas, carbon sequestration and fisheries.

The GFN reckons the world had enough productive land and sea to apportion 1.8 global hectares per person in 2008, the latest year for which data are available. If that is right, humans are horribly depleting the planet. The world’s biggest guzzlers are Qataris, who account for the equivalent of 11.7 global hectares per person. Americans account for 7.2 global hectares and western Europeans weigh in at between 8.3 (Denmark) and 4.1 (Portugal). The title of the world’s most modest consumers is shared between Afghans, Timorese and Palestinians, who each consume or emit just 0.5 global hectares.

socialuprooting: Dimon’s Déjà Vu Debacle Now the truth is...

socialuprooting — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:12:22 -0400

socialuprooting:

Dimon’s Déjà Vu Debacle

Now the truth is coming out. That multibillion-dollar loss wasn’t an isolated event; it was an accident waiting to happen. For even as Mr. Dimon was giving speeches about responsible banking, his own institution was heaping on the risk. “The unit at the center of JPMorgan’s $2 billion trading loss,” reports The Financial Times, “has built up positions totaling more than $100 billion in asset-backed securities and structured products — the complex, risky bonds at the center of the financial crisis in 2008. These holdings are in addition to those in credit derivatives which led to the losses.”

And what was going on as these positions were being accumulated? According to a fascinating report in Sunday’s Times, the reality behind JPMorgan’s facade of competence was a scene all too reminiscent of the behavior that brought down firms like A.I.G. in 2008: arrogant executives shouting down anyone who tried to question their activities, top management that didn’t ask questions as long as the money kept rolling in. It really is déjà vu all over again.

The point, again, is that an institution like JPMorgan — a too-big-to-fail bank, not to mention a bank whose deposits are already guaranteed by U.S. taxpayers — shouldn’t be engaged in this kind of speculative investment at all. And that’s why we need a return to much stronger financial regulation, stronger even than the Dodd-Frank regulations passed back in 2010.

Will we get that kind of regulation? Not if Mr. Romney wins, obviously; he wants to repeal Dodd-Frank, and in general has made it clear that he would do everything in his power to set us up for another financial crisis. Even if President Obama is re-elected, getting the kind of regulation we need will be an uphill struggle. But as Mr. Dimon’s debacle has just demonstrated, that struggle remains as necessary as ever.

U.S. war veterans flash the peace sign before throwing their...

ikenbot — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:29:27 -0400

U.S. war veterans flash the peace sign before throwing their medals towards the site of the NATO Summit in Chicago May 20, 2012. Nearly 50 veterans threw service medals into the street near the summit site in protest. Baton-swinging police clashed with anti-war protesters marching on the NATO summit in Chicago on Sunday and a lawyers’ group

Oakland (CA) Police Summarily Execute 18-Year-Old Alan Blueford

ikenbot — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:51:32 -0400

Oakland (CA) Police Summarily Execute 18-Year-Old Alan Blueford:

ikenbot:

OAKLAND — A Skyline High School senior is dead after Oakland police profiled and opened fire on him.

The summary execution of 18-year-old Alan Dwayne Blueford happened near 90th Avenue and Birch Street in Oakland early Sunday morning. Mr. Blueford and two friends were standing outside waiting for some young lady friends to come pick them up. According to Oakland police, two of their cops “believed one of them were carrying a hidden gun.” It is unclear how this was determined based on their looks, nor is it clear why that would matter in a country which prides itself on gun ownership rights.

Police say the young men ran (obviously fearing for their lives in the face of paid, constitutionally-protected killers) when they approached them. One of the cops, whose names are being protected by the city of Oakland, ran after Mr. Blueford for two blocks before recklessly firing a gun at the young man, killing him instantly. The cop struck Mr. Blueford three times and shot himself in the foot once. Of course, the killer was rewarded with a paid vacation (aka “paid administrative leave”), despite the long-standing U.S. Supreme Court decision in Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985), which specifically outlaws police shooting at fleeing suspects without probable cause.

Fucking horrible.

mohandasgandhi: Most armed country in the world: The U.S. has...

ikenbot — Sun, 20 May 2012 12:02:10 -0400

mohandasgandhi:

Most armed country in the world: The U.S. has 90 guns per 100 people

Are U.S. gun rights being trampled? No.

"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree."

ikenbot — Sun, 20 May 2012 11:42:32 -0400

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.”

- Albert Einstein (via ikenbot)

ikenbot: Watch How Life Recovers from Devastation If a portion...

ikenbot — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:21:32 -0400

ikenbot:

Watch How Life Recovers from Devastation

If a portion of Earth underwent a major cataclysm, how long would it take for life to recover?

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens is giving scientists an unprecedented opportunity to witness a recovery from devastation, as the eruption leveled the surrounding forest, blasted away hundreds of meters of the mountain’s summit, and claimed 57 human lives.

Landsat satellites have tracked what has happened on the mountain, and how the forest was reclaimed — all on its own.

caraobrien: Every 90 seconds, a mother dies from complications...

ikenbot — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:16:03 -0400

caraobrien:

Every 90 seconds, a mother dies from complications related to pregnancy childbirth; that is 1,000 women every day. Yet almost every one of these deaths can be prevented. Every Mother Counts (EMC), founded in 2010 by Christy Turlington Burns, is an advocacy and mobilization organization focused on maternal mortality reduction globally. Now in 2012, EMC is gearing up to offer new ways to get involved and take action to help prevent these needless deaths.

Starting today, make every action count. This video introduces Every Mother Counts’ new focus to encourage creative actions to benefit maternal health. With every action you take on our website, we’ll be sending a message. With every dollar we raise, we’ll be funding programs to provide transportation, examinations, medication, midwives and hospital care. One hundred percent of every dollar raised goes directly toward these life saving programs around the world where women-just like you-just need a chance.

Every action counts. Every dollar counts. Every voice counts. Every song counts. Every mile counts. Every Mother Counts.

good: theatlantic: In Focus: Mexico’s Drug War: 50,000 Dead...

ikenbot — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:21:21 -0400

good:

theatlantic:

In Focus: Mexico’s Drug War: 50,000 Dead in 6 Years

Warning: All images in this entry are shown in full. There are many dead bodies; the photographs are graphic and stark. This is the reality of the situation in Mexico right now.

Top: A masked Mexican soldier patrols the streets of Veracruz, on October 10, 2011. Soldiers of the Army, Navy and members of Federal Police patrol the streets of the city as part of “Veracruz Safe Operation” after a rising tide of violence plaguing this tourist city.

Bottom: A forensic technician points his flashlight at the shoes of a man at a crime scene in Mazatlan, on February 13, 2012. The man was shot dead by gunmen while he was walking on the street, according to local media.

See more. [Images: AFP/Getty, Reuters]

These are incredible photographs.

thepeoplesrecord: Florida’s stand-your-ground law put to test...

ikenbot — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:00:57 -0400

thepeoplesrecord:

Florida’s stand-your-ground law put to test in Marissa Alexander conviction

It took 45 days for police to arrest George Zimmerman, who invoked Florida’s controversial stand-your-ground law when he shot an unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin. When Marissa Alexander offered the same defense after shooting in the direction of her abusive husband, she was jailed for 20 years. It took 12 minutes for the jury to find her guilty.

While Zimmerman’s case prompted a frenzied national debate, Alexander’s story has had little national media coverage since the verdict was handed down last Friday.

Full article

theweekmagazine: Has mankind outgrown Earth? A new report from...

ikenbot — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:20:34 -0400

theweekmagazine:

Has mankind outgrown Earth?

A new report from the World Wildlife Fund says we’re gobbling up the planet’s resources at such an alarming rate that by 2030, even a second Earth wouldn’t be enough to sustain us

Which resources are we depleting?
Renewables like fish, water, timber, and food are being used up much faster than previously thought. According to experts, mankind’s “ecological footprint” is now over 50 percent higher than it was in 2008, meaning it takes 1.5 years for Earth to regenerate the natural resources we use up annually.

Why is our ecological footprint growing?
The world’s population, which according to the U.N. surpassed 7 billion last October, is getting too big, and the average individual is using more than he or she needs. “The excessive demands that we are putting on the planet will inevitably lead to acute water shortages, a chronic food crisis, and rising prices for energy, metals, and minerals,” says Robert Walker at the Huffington Post.

Keep reading

hidingerections: The Brain Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living...

ikenbot — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:38:29 -0400

hidingerections:

The Brain Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People’s Brains

“Nobody knows exactly how many people there are with it in the United States,” says Nash, who is the chief of the Gastrointestinal Parasites Section at NIH. His best estimate is 1,500 to 2,000. Worldwide, the numbers are vastly higher, though estimates on a global scale are even harder to make because neurocysticercosis is most common in poor places that lack good public-health systems. “Minimally there are 5 million cases of epilepsy from neurocysticercosis,” Nash says.