Despite the fact that I’m still sort of confused on what the hell all that means (don’t bother trying to decode the Wikipedia page unless you’re a chaos theorist), I’ve been called out to list what’s in mine, so in the spirit of playing along and ego boosting, here goes:
(Click the links to buy the books on Amazon and give me a little kickback if you do.)
“The Road” by Cormac McCarthy - This was given to me as a gift recently. I guess I mentioned to someone that I liked post-apocalyptic fiction of the “I Am Legend” sort, and so this came along. Unfortunately I have no time for fiction in my life right now, so it’s been sitting on my shelf since whenever it was given to me.
“The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World” by Lawrence Lessig - (Mine’s autographed!) Prof. Lessig (of Stanford) spoke at UTA on intellectual property and how our current copyright law is making the creation of new content increasingly impossible and costly. At one point I wanted to be a lawyer (I might still go to law school), and I had wanted to focus on public interest law. Then I found out that it costs more than my house cost to go to law school, even to some of the bad ones, and decided that if I did it I’d be better off becoming a slimy corporate lawyer type.
“Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution” by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins - A treatise on how the next industrial revolution (it’s in the title, see?) will be one that helps the planet instead of taking advantage of the planet. It includes lists of specific companies and upcoming technologies to watch. I’ve only read the first chapter or so, but I could tell right away that it wasn’t really what I was hoping it would be. I wanted ideas and inspiration, instead I got “Go see these guys for product X.”
“Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle” by David Wann - David (no relation, that I know of) is a coauthor of “Affluenza,” a book I also haven’t read and a movie I haven’t seen. Jenna has seen the movie (during a Sustainability class at UTA), and said I’d like it. I don’t think I’ve even read the first sentence in this one, but what I’m hoping to get is affirmation that living simply and ignoring the pressures of “Mother Culture” to consume and waste is good for me and the planet.
“Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence” by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin - Priorities, man! Which is more important? I mean, REALLY more important? How much money do you need to have those things and people that are really important to you in your life? I’ll bet it’s a LOT less than most people think. There was a great article in Portfolio magazine this month on this very topic. Essentially, our national obsession with growth at any cost is actually making us LESS happy overall than focusing on things that are more important to the average person. Here’s an example: Increase the annual income of the average citizen in Zimbabwe by $100, and you’ve made an enormous difference in their lives. Increase the annual income of the average American by $100, and you’ve effectively done nothing. Yet, every bit of our economic policy is focused on growing the economy, not on those things that truly improve people’s lives.
Various titles from the Apple Training Series, since I fancy myself a budding Apple Systems Administrator. Surprisingly, I only recommend these books for their overview value. They’re really not particularly good training tools.
That’s a pretty limited list, but then my library right now is also pretty small. I suppose I’m already living the philosophies espoused in all my “green” books, since I don’t often buy new books, I generally check things out of the library. Since I only have one bookshelf, I have to make pretty regular trips to Half Price Books to clear the clutter, or else it would probably take over.
Hope you enjoyed my list. What’s in YOUR Anti-Library?
This wisdom came to me third-hand through Jenna and one of her co-workers…
If you go to a restaurant and order Coke, they often offer Pepsi as an alternative. No one I know replies that they would rather have Draino. If you can’t have the dark fizzy soda of your choice, you go with the next best thing, not he poison you found under the sink.
I’m extremely disappointed that you did not heed the will of your constituents in supporting the Climate Security Act (S. 3036) this week. Poll after poll has shown that the desire for action on climate change crosses party, locality, income, religious, and race boundaries, but somehow it still gets slammed for being some kind of “extremist environmentalist” position.
And this week when you had the chance to stand up to the partisans in your party who are creating fear, uncertainty, and doubt, you chose to stick your head in the sand instead of standing up for what’s right.
This is even more disappointing and exasperating because you claim to be an outdoorsman and to love the natural environment of Texas. I’ve read your articles in various newspapers and outdoors groups’ newsletters. I can tell that you truly love the diverse and rich natural environment we enjoy in Texas, so why won’t you work to protect it?
Your stated reasons, jobs and gas prices, aren’t good enough. I’ll remind you that in the words of WWII veteran and staunch environmentalist David Brower - “There is no business to be done on a dead planet.” If we continue to destroy the world we live in, it won’t matter how many jobs there are in Texas, because no one will want to live here.
As for gas prices — I’d really appreciate it if you and your fellow Senators would provide some context when speaking about opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Here are a couple of points that are NEVER addressed when this is mentioned by either side (I’m afraid they don’t look good for your stated position):
1. Drilling in ANWAR (or off the continental shelf) would not produce oil or refined gasoline soon enough to do anything to affect the current price of oil, yet whenever high gas prices are mentioned, ANWAR (in the form of increased domestic oil production) is given as the solution.
2. There is only enough oil in ANWAR to supply 7 months (maybe 13 if you go by the most hopeful estimates) of the daily oil consumption in the US. Do you really think such a small amount of oil will have any affect on the price of fuel? (I know your answer to that is “NO,” but you could never say that publicly.)
Please, give the dogma a rest and start working with the Democratic party to find REAL, LONG-TERM solutions to our energy needs. Climbing up on the backs of your struggling constituents to make a speech about how “I’d love to help, but the Democrats won’t let me” is not the job you were elected to do.
Thank you for your time, I sincerely hope you actually read this message.
Okay, so I feel compelled to write something about this, sort of to get my opinions out there and to hopefully spark some discussion or at least some deep reflection on the part of folks who might be considering this course of action because Hillary wasn’t nominated.
Don’t fucking do it.
By declaring that because Hillary didn’t win the nomination you “are thinking about voting for McCain” or “are definitely voting for McCain” or “Obama is starting from scratch with me,” what you’re really saying is “I never gave a shit about what Hillary stood for, or my fellow Democrats, I just wanted Hillary to win the nomination, so to punish the rest of you, I’ll demonstrate my pettiness by talking shit about the Democratic nominee.”
Here’s the thing: Hillary and Bill get it. They don’t like it. I GUARAN-FUCKING-TEE they don’t like it. But they know that if they raise a major shitstorm and don’t fall in line, they’re DONE as party power-brokers. If the kind of shit that Hillary supporters are talking about stirring up happens, Obama loses the general election, and there’s even a HINT that Bill or Hillary or anyone in their organization is encouraging it, the party will crucify them. They won’t be able to get jobs as junior staffers to the lone State Democratic Congressman in South Dakota (or something equally lowly).
Sure, they could just go off in their dotage and retire somewhere that they can happily diddle the maid and pool boy, leaving a demolished Democratic Party in their wake, but that’s not how they work. They’re patriots through and through, and they’ve devoted their lives to the United States and the Democratic Party. They enjoy unprecedented influence and major power broker status, and i guarantee they’re not going to give that up easily.
More than that, and more importantly, is that Bill and Hillary really do care about the United States and all the things they’ve devoted their lives to working for. I can guarantee that no matter how disappointed they are that they lost the nomination, they would be absolutely gutted if Hillary supporters defecting to the other side (or not turning out for Obama) caused him to lose the general election, not to mention the affect it would have on down-ticket races.
Barack Obama is not Hillary Clinton, but he’s a hell of a lot closer than John McCain could ever be.
Please, take the time to be angry and disappointed. Get it out of your system, vent to your friends, do whatever you feel like you need to do. But when the time comes, show Hillary and Bill that you really do support them by putting your effort behind the party and the issues that they’ve devoted their adult lives to.
This is a beat down. It’s running much more smoothly than the SD 10, but it is running long, and I haven’t eaten since 1:30.
Playing by the rules kinda screws you over, because you’re supposed to stay and participate for everything, which means you don’t get a chance to eat or rest, really.
People who leave the convention could have their delegate status revoked and an alternate elevated in their place, but they’re not being that strict. I’m just a habitual rules follower.
My friends know that I’m kind of a curmudgeon when it comes to sports, especially professional sports. There’s really no reason for it besides that I just don’t feel like because someone has the genetic gifts and dedication to eventually get paid outrageous amounts of money to play a game, that they then qualify as a “hero.” I know, it’s petty and sounds bitter, but that’s pretty much it.
Every once in a while, I see something that demonstrates that there’s some truth behind all of the BS that high-school coaches spout about teamwork and sportsmanship. Here’s the latest example. (Why is it that so many of the inspirational sports stories we see these days are coming from college women athletes? More evidence that the men are just in it for the money and glory?)
