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Mickey Z
Cool Observer
the Department of Homeland Security.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Humans vs. Oceans (a reprise)
Let’s go to ScienceDaily.com for the chemistry: “Ocean acidification is linearly related to the amount of CO2 we produce. CO2 dissolves in the ocean, reacts with seawater and decreases the pH. Since the industrial revolution, the oceans have become 30 percent more acidic (from 8.2 pH to 8.1 pH).”
Ocean-Acidification.net adds: “The ocean absorbs approximately 1/3rd of the CO2 emitted to the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. However, this valuable service comes at a steep ecological cost - the acidification of the ocean. As CO2 dissolves in seawater, the pH of the water decreases, which is called ‘acidification.’”
This increase in ocean acidification has prompted some dire predictions. “Ocean acidification is more rapid than ever in the history of the earth and if you look at the pCO2 (partial pressure of carbon dioxide) levels we have reached now, you have to go back 35 million years in time to find the equivalents” said Jelle Bijma, chair of the EuroCLIMATE programme Scientific Committee and a biogeochemist at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute Bremerhaven.
Richard Marcus sez: “Even if every single person in the United States were to change all their light-bulbs to fluorescent, cut the amount they drive in half, recycle half of their household waste, inflate their tire pressure to increase gas mileage, use low flow shower heads and wash clothes in lower temperature water, adjusts their thermostats two degrees up or down depending on the season, and plant a tree, it would result in a one time, 21 percent reduction in carbon emissions.”
So, um...where’s the urgency among activists?
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Wiped out
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While working out in a gym in Texas during my recent visit, I noticed a container of Clorox disinfectant wipes attached to the wall. The idea was to give us gym patrons a way to wipe down machines after use and disinfect our hands while we we at it.
In case you think there’s nothing unusual about using Clorox in a “health” club, dig this: Just above the Clorox container, there was a small spot of white on the wall. It seems that every time a wipe is pulled from the container, it scrapes the wall at that point and thus, slowly eats away the brown paint.
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Sunday, June 28, 2009
Becoming the Media
I’ve known Jen Angel for years. She and fellow Clamor Magazine founder, Jason Kucsma, appeared in my book, The Murdering of My Years: Artists and Activists Making Ends Meet and I wrote for Clamor on occasion. None of these facts, however, explain why I read and appreciated Jen’s 44-page chapbook, Becoming the Media: A Critical History of Clamor Magazine (from PM Press which yes, is publishing a book of mine soon). Simply put, it’s right down my proverbial alley. I’ve written about corporate media propaganda for decades and never fail to include a spiel like this in my public talks:
“Whether you label them liberal or conservative, most major media outlets are large corporations owned by or aligned with even larger corporations, and they share a common goal: to make a profit by selling a product—an affluent audience—to a given market: advertisers. Therefore, we shouldn’t find it too shocking that the image of the world being presented by a corporate-owned press very much reflects the biased interests of the elite players involved in this sordid little love triangle. That’s why every major daily newspaper has a business section, but not a labor section. Why at least once a week those same newspapers run an automobile section, but no bicycle section. This is why when the Dow Jones Industrial Average drops, it makes headlines. But if the global infant mortality rate rises, it’s questionable if it will even make the papers—and if it does, it’ll be buried on page 23. In other words, if you created a blueprint for an apparatus that utterly erased critical thought, you can make none more efficient than the American corporate media.”
Jen Angel doesn’t need me (or anyone) to explain all that to her. She knows it firsthand and has spent much of her time creating and supporting media that offer the perspective of women, workers, immigrants, and everyone else outside the mainstream umbrella. Not just writing and design, but also issues of distribution, diversity, workplace dynamics, etc. The story of Jen’s role in Clamor—told concisely and with honesty—is part blueprint, part kick in the ass. “The real challenge,” she writes, “is getting people, on a large scale, to understand how media works to nurture, sustain, and strengthen social movements.”
In other words, if the corporate-owned media drives the getaway car for global criminals, it’s high time to create our own independent methods of communication to not only expose what’s going on but also talk openly about what needs to be done…now.
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Friday, June 26, 2009
Mickey Z. sez:
(Photo by Michele)
“It is our moral obligation to see through our own propaganda and kick the addictive habit of lazy thinking. Change should and must be imagined possible. The precarious state of global affairs is not the result of some preordained theology or unstoppable force of nature. We are where we are thanks to decisions made by humans. Other decisions could have been made; other outcomes could have resulted. Therefore, it follows that change is not impossible.”
Your thoughts?
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(Still in Texas: hope to be home on Sunday night)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
What sometimes passes for conversation
(A Cool Observer re-run of sorts)
When you meet someone for the first time, they often ask: “What do you do?” Being well-trained capitalists, of course we all understand this question to really mean: “What job do you have?” or “How do you make a living?” or “Where do you rent yourself out for 8-10 hours a days in order to pay for all those consumer electronics?”
I once encountered a more palatable version of this scenario when I met an experimental musician who asked me: “What sort of things do you do?” This refreshing variation led me to answer: “Well, one of the things I do is write.” From there, we talked about my books and his music with no mention of whether or not we’ve ever earned a penny from such ventures.
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(I’m still in Texas and will try to update soon)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Health care, American-style
According to an Institute of Medicine report, 60 Americans die every day due to lack of health insurance.
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Speaking of health care:
My Dad just had surgery in Texas so I’m headed down to help out. I’ll try to stay in touch here but my Internet access will be limited...at best. As always, I hope you’ll all continue to gather and chat in my (relative) absence.
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I took this photo in the North Woods of Central Park
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