Got nailed for Easter.... Welcome to the home stretch of my second semester.... Imagine some stranger falling back in time from Easter last year to inform me what Easter 2009 would bring, I would laughlingly have him locked up. Margaret, USFSP and the sheer amount of beer I have consumed would be a hard sell to anyone, much less a dumbass as myself. Imagine, if you will, some 40 (or so) year-old slacker such as myself informed they would fall madly in love, find some sort of satisfaction in Academia, and have my two grown daughters finally on their own (somewhat). Well, you can imagine my surprise. But, alas, it is all true.... I cannot believe my good fortune. I am in love, and am moving along here at USF swimmingly (for the most part), and am primed for the best summer I have ever experienced. Margaret says there is an opportunity to go to China this year. Friggin' China! That has been a dream for most my life! We can get a furnished place for dirt cheap, and a round trip ticket for 500 bucks! Holy Shit!

Check out some cool stuff by one of my Journalism Classmates

On January 14th, a group of about 25 local residents rallied at the Republic Bank building on the corner of 4th and Central in Saint Petersburg to present a petition to Representative C.W. Bill Young titled "Support President-elect Obama's Economic Recovery Plan." Rep. Young, whose office was on the 14th floor, is the Republican Congressman from Florida's 10th district, which includes Saint Petersburg.

The event was sponsored by the political action group MoveOn.org, and with 392 signatures, the petition included many personal testaments of economic hardship. It was a movement to show broad support for president-elect Obama's economic plans which include investments for green jobs, health care and clean energy. According to the MoveOn.org Political Action press release, the rally will "urge their Representative, Bill Young, to pass Obama's plan quickly without weakening its policies."

"We expect Bill Young to look out for his constituents," said Joe Illingworth, local MoveOn.org member and host of the St. Pete event, one of over 200 such events held across the country. "We hope that Rep. Young won't let partisan politics stop this package from moving quickly through Congress so that ordinary Americans can get what they need to survive the crisis."

Held on a cool Wednesday morning, the event included local issues such as Progress Energy's recently enacted rate hike of 25%, announced in July 2008 and taking effect in this month's power bills. Many of the protesters carried extension cords to represent a desire to "unplug" the rate hike. Universal health care and the Iraq war were also discussed, with participants waving American flags, anti war banners and Obama-Biden signs at traffic on Central. Many cars honked in support.

Lorraine McCann, a MoveOn.org member, has been active with the group for the past 2 years. "I protested Vietnam," McCann said, "I started with MoveOn because of the war in Iraq." A woman protesting named Karen discussed the need for alternative energy sources. "We are in 'sunny' Florida... why isn't every new home built with a solar panel on the roof?"

The main topic of discussion was the struggling economy. Several speakers outlined the effects of the current financial crisis, where Florida has been hit with the largest over-the-month decrease in employment in the United States. There were 58,600 lost jobs in November 2008 according to figures from the US Department of Labor Statistics.

Jessica Tennyson, a homeless woman, talked about life in the streets, and her attempts to find a job. "In Saint Pete, life sucks," said Tennyson, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday at the rally. "In the last six months, the homeless population increased by 25 percent. I have applied to 125 jobs, but nothing." To help her celebrate, the group sang "Happy Birthday," and gave donations.

At 12:30 the first group of 10 participants, lead by Illingworth, moved to Rep. Young's office on the 14th floor to officially present the petition. The group was met by Yvonne Grey, a secretary for Young, who accepted the petition on his behalf. Ilingworth also requested a meeting with Young, and was told bu Grey the request would be processed.

In the lobby afterward, Illingworth felt the short ceremony went well."It was a typical response" and "we will pursue a personal meeting." A second group of protesters attempted to go to the 14th floor, but were turned away by security. Karen, one of the group not allowed to Rep Young's office, loudly voiced her disappointment. "They won't let us up... It was not very nice."

For further information about the petition and the other related events around the country go to www.MoveOn.org/2009/agenda/results.

Spotlights lights glow brightly, casting everything in a sharp yellow hue. The ceiling was low and the resulting heat stifled the dry stiff air. Air conditioning was limited, offering little comfort from the heat of the Florida afternoon.

People are milling around, walking slowly along crowded aisles with a non responsive haze in their eyes. Careful movements punctuated by frozen stares directed at displays strategically located along four paths which crossed the long building. Some people were in small groups also moving at a deliberately leisurely pace.

Occasionally a individual looks up and scans a vignette, studying an item on a crowded table, such as a ceramic pots, a plate or vase - many glazed in colorful hues perfectly placed on tables crowded throughout the building. Intermixed with the ceramics were artificial floral arrangements, sparkling glassware, picture frames and items puzzling in their shape and texture. They were all placed in immaculate positions and groupings on every flat surface available.

The walls, painted a soft cream color, were also decorated with a variety of colorful pictures, all perfectly leveled. Many of the pictures were hand painted, mostly incorporating floral themes. They were framed in ornately carved frames of dark woods painted dark cherry with touches of gold. In addition there were several mirrors and metal sculptures of a tropical theme. They were festively shaped and painted to look like birds and ships, using vibrant greens and deep blues, like you would expect in a tropical paradise.

A few people were rushing about, shuttling between the groups, many who have stopped at an interesting point in the aisle. The hurried people had intent looks on their faces, and a few were smiling. Most of them gazed intently at a fixed point in space as they quickly passed.

Pieces of various sizes, some small enough to fit in the palm of your hand to large enough to sit on the floor, many in bright colors such as fire engine red and deep ocean blue, stood out from a sea of dark earth tones, mostly tans and browns. Colors that evoked the sense of a desert mountain bathed in the glow as the sun slowly sets. There were many pieces in a dark brown, appearing nearly black like a cup of strong coffee. They usually were set with a brightly accented item, which would stand out in vibrant contrast.

Amongst the carefully decorated smaller items were several large pieces, the focus of the vignettes, tastefully placed at inviting angles. The pieces were designed to grab attention from approaching passersbys. A variety of colors and textures were represented, some with the smooth of leather, firm to the touch and the reminding the curious of the hide from which it was made. Other items constructed of fabric, soft and fuzzy, as you would expect of a small animal.

Designed for comfort, and accented with contrasting pillows, the pieces, some as large as eight feet in length offered the curious a place to sit and periodically nod slowly. A smartly dressed person would rush to assist the seated engaging them with curious expressions.

Occasionally a burst of air from a strategically placed ceiling fans tore through the stillness, offering brief relief from the choking warmth.

This is starting to look like a mandate....

Let's hope that this is a change for the better... But all life is change, and America is not exempt. The dejection on Fox news is palatable.

If you are in the Obama is Socialist camp, then Socialism must have been in the cards.

Get used to it.

To those who felt it was no real change to elect Obama, I guess an African-American in office is not change enough (it is change enough for me).

To those who voted for Prop. 2... BOO!

I guess equality is only on your terms, and this election of a black man is some sort of aberration. It was not long ago that blacks were NOT equal to the rest of "us."

I would pray for you, if it wasn't a fruitless exercise for an athiest like me. We are all equal, and must strive for peace.

This election can be good, you know. It might be a good thing for the world for a progressive America, since that is the definition of the term "progressive." Did you think of that, that you might be wrong thinking Obama is wrong for America? You could be wrong ("God" forbid)!

I have seen enough politics where I am convinced, at least for now, electing a black man is the coolest thing America has ever done!

Now that there is no hanging chads to argue about, and it is pretty clear how America thinks, lets really work to understand the universiality of mankind. Peace to all.

One last thought... America is more than economics! It is leadership, where cooler heads might have a chance to prevail.

To those who won tonight.....

I'm still in office for two months! Bwahahahaaa!

peace out, boy scouts...

Some More Random Thoughts...

I want to remind people how cool how an Obama win is.

Today, every first grader from every inner-city school is saying: hey, I can be president of the United States. Is that not America, or what?

And the world is saying; "there is hope for America". Remember, we just elected someone to run the country, by the highest vote count ever, who could not even piss in the same bathroom as the whites a generation ago. That was not bullshit, it was the LAW. Is it not a good thing to give a whole generation of Americans the goal of POTUS? Instead of success equating rap stars and sports fame?

My senior year of high school (1979), also the highest recorded marijuana use by seniors, had a SWAT team on the roof of the school. As a result race riots. Blacks agains Italians, and it was about something pretty stupid, in retrospect. (hint: it was about pot!) Doesn't it seem petty now, when equality for all is an achievable goal?

Do you hear the rumbling? It is the collective generations of people spinning in their graves. I am so proud. It is a genuine rebellion.

Never mind the economic policies of Obama, the rebellion envisioned by the 60', 70's and 80's have begun to rear its head!

It is not an economic thing, for those who want to narrow it in purely economic terms. That idea is self centered!

We are seeing social change at is most base.

A person of color to reach the top of the American political structure is something pretty damn special. If you want to call it Socialism, so be it. If you think that Obama will not bring any change, and that the whole system needs a reset, get real! A black man is in charge, is that not change?

A real change has come, and if that is not enough for you, so what? Let's get a dose of reality, the American people will only accept a change on their own terms, and this is it!

So you label President Obama a "Socialist." Do you think any person of the age of the Civil Rights movement would be called anything else? Any notion of equality and fairness, especially in the framework of race, can be decried as socialist.

It is a charge bordering on racism.

The redistribution of wealth is an attractive notion to a class of people who have been denied real wealth their entire lives. As Chris Rock once said; a basketball player is rich, the owner of the team is wealthy! The equality of race, when you reflect, screams of socialism.

Who cares?

This is the change America needs, and Obama is intelligent enough to rise to the challenge.

The saving grace is that a mandate has been an achieved. A decisive victory which will quash any discussion of voter fraud and hanging chads. Thankfully ACORN is history.

If it was even close, we would be arguing this election for months. The election will put to rest any doubt, and any opportunity for the Supreme Court to decide this election.

One last thought... leave it to a black man to clean up the mess of the rich white guy! Good luck President Obama.

Gooooo USA!

Money as Debt

The creation of money is not what we traditionally understood as the source of money.

It is using mortgage and fractal lending policies with a promise to repay where financial debt becomes money. Money becomes a tangible visualization of morality. The assessment of debt evolves into an accepted degree of a culture's morality. Objectification of debt can be directly related to a sense of moral superiority.

We owe, so that places the lender on a superior plane.

We assign this nearly virtual monetary system as a substitute for morality, arising out of emotional convenience. It is easier for an individual to replace money for morality. Once a culture agrees with this concept, then we take our moral compass out of the equation.

Isn't an easier emotional path to assess a monetary value than a subjective internal value, where we are only accountable to ourselves (and our "God").

With a simple financial value to which all parties can agree, or at least have the courts force us to agree, value judgments can be assessed in hard and fast terms. Contracts become solid, with unquestionable terms. This is the concept we now call "money."

Monetary systems by their nature are intuitive, even though most people do not realize where "money" comes from. We fail to realize why money becomes important. Something must be better since it has a higher price tag. We accept that without question.

Why do we assess value to money, which is based on a non tangible promise from unseen persons?

Why should we give faith that somebody - anybody - banks or government, will do the "right" thing?

What is a promise anyway?

Debt becomes a method the individual can assert their will upon others. We want to do right and believe that others will do right to us. That is the core of any promise.

It is where we can assert superiority over another, by having faith that they will repay with interest. We give faith to the debtor, which is in direct conflict with other, less tangible, forms of faith. Such has been the historic basis of religion. Why else would most world religions take a stern position against lending with interest? We abdicate authority previously reserved for the clergy and confer it to banks and other financial institutions.

Christianity has been relegated to a competitive role with money. There have been countless sermons about how God does not want us to be in debt. It is competition and weakens the pulpit's hold on the faithful.

Many cannot afford to tithe to God's church.

Why should they?

You can have happiness on earth, as long as you can shoulder some debt. Wall Street has become the new temple, and we all must contribute when it falters.

The federal bailout is our tithe to the altar of debt.

We got off easy with a paltry 700 billion.

Fear as a method of control

argumentum in terrorem

"Save us, Superman."

9/11. As a mantra for the 21^st century, nothing can hold a candle to the visceral impact of September 11, 2001. It was one of those rare “where were you when?” moments, burned into the collective consciousness. Of that there is no doubt.

The attack on the twin towers became a surface of the specter of fear. What is fear? Wikipedia defines fear as “an emotional response to threats and danger.” Can we asses a need to feel fear? The need for comfort, the homeostatic nature of human kind, the need to feel safe in their homes and in their lives. It was intensified as the towers came down.

Then a strange thing happened...

Instead of finding answers, and understanding where this sense of fear originated, we became even more fearful. We knew less than before, and our leaders, instead of taking substantive steps to calm the world, began to be beat war drums.

With no discernible change in our day to day lives, we have become a nation at war with unnamed entities we call “terrorists.” It can be argued the odds of a single American falling victim to an act of terrorism (or what passes for terrorism) was only infinitesimally affected by the events of 9/11. My assertion is that we are no more safer now than we were prior to the event. But we are more fearful.

Fear is the mother of morality - Nietzsche.

People who aim to control society will use the easiest method possible. The promotion of fear is an simple path to control the populous. Fear can be an intricate part of social structure. But what of the opposite? Basic human nature encompasses the struggle to alleviate fear. Physical manifestations of fear are well documented, couldn't it be said fear is the basic need for relief? Fear, and the alleviation of fear becom powerful emotions, which can give rise for enterprising parties to seize an opportunity for control. The search for a savior is at the foundation of both religion and politics. We need a representative to keep us from harm, to keep us safe and to bring us to some version of the “promised land.”

A correlation can be made between the relief of fear and the establishment of debt. Both fill some sort of need. Both have a component of relationship between people providing a degree of comfort, with a promise of reciprocation. The debtor and the faithful owe their debt, in either financial or emotional terms. The relief of debt becomes a literal term, focusing on the word relief.

My question is - how safe are we? There is a disconnect between the illusion of security and the reality of safety. We cannot walk out of our homes without the assessment of risk. Why do we proceed, and why should we proceed? We allow ourselves to be safe, but we fail to realize that safety is something that is given, and can be easily taken away.

As the events of September 11 unfolded the usefulness as fear as a tool, and the power of the savior, became apparent. Fear became a tangible commodity, which can be traded. Writer Hunter S. Thompson remarked:

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We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear — fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, fear of getting down-sized or fired because of the plunging economy, fear of getting evicted for bad debts, or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer. "Extreme behavior in Aspen" (2003-02-03)

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The promise of repayment gives the loaner a measure of power just as the savior has over the saved. The feeling of gratitude is a price one pays to the superior, and the participants are willing, with no idea that any manipulation is taking place. We are eager to live the proscribed life with the promise of a nirvana or heaven, and the fear of hell.

An industry of security has developed from the promotion of fear of an unknown entity. Any Google search of “security” bring thousands of results for companies that offer the promise of comfort, the ability to surf the internet, to conduct business and live our lives free from the specter of despair. We are taking comfort to be something that a value can assigned. How much are you willing to spend to be safe? To feel safe has no physical parameters. We cannot hold safety in our hands. As I sit in my living room, what makes me feel safe, and why should I feel that way? The government has created an illusion and we can continue to feel that way, as long as our social structure stays in place. We walk down the street without fear of molestation because the police, a government entity, is hard at work. We do not ask, or simply forget, the price.

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We're likely to experience more restrictions on our personal freedom than has ever been the case in our country - Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

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We are going to have to change the balance between freedom and security - House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt

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Our leaders have garnered support for a war whose antagonists are phantoms. The war on terror is impossible to define since terror is an emotion, intangible and unquantifiable. Terror is fear, and fear is what will keep us in line. How do we win a war? Is it something that a flag can be placed by a victorious army?

The problem with “sustain-ability.”

By Phil Ammann

To begin, I do not have a problem with the concept of “sustain-ability”and it would be foolish to disagree with the idea.

Of course, we need to renew resources; they will stop being resources if we do not. The highest priority of our time should be the viability of future generations by making sure there are some resources remaining. Not to gobble up our planet in a fit of short sightedness.

Short sightedness, it is a classic human trait.

Don't forget, the planet has a way of responding and not in ways that are conducive with our survival. Anyone who has experienced tornadoes, heat waves or other massive natural disasters can attest to that.

Those who suffered through M. Night Shyamalan's “The Happening” (trust me) also can understand.

My issue is with how Americans treat terminology and the ease with which words are hijacked in the name of profit. By profit, I mean more than just money. The words “green” and “organic” are good examples. Terms have become “branded” to nearly iconic levels. We are being bombarded with products, people and places labeled “green.”

Saint Petersburg is working very hard to be the “green city,” going as far as being the first town so proclaimed by the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC). This tag line will be used to bring development and money to St. Pete.

From my experience, development and money are the two things that do not fit well with ecological sustain-ability. Development is not a word that “jives” with conservation, sustain-ability or preservation.

Tuesday I saw our mayor Rick Baker sitting outside the USF Barnes and Noble. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind. I realized I could not spare any, so I held back.

Development has been one of the mainstays of Western growth, especially in the last 60 years. President Truman ushered in a modern age of development when on January 20, 1949 –his inauguration day—he declared "greater production is the key to prosperity and peace" by declaring most of the world "undeveloped” and "their economic life (as) primitive and stagnant."

To label people "savage" and "primitive" gave the West a mandate to "civilize."

Assignments of these ideas were essential to give the West a moral obligation to develop those regions. In short order, development became a way to profit from raw materials. The post-war era was marked by profiteering, although not completely without precedent. The most egregious violators have been the corporation, where common efforts replace economic profit with morality, and personal responsibility is diluted by group think.

Multi-national corporations capture this underlying lack of morality and export it world-wide, erasing borders by deifying currency. The rise of the multi-national corporation had been building steadily for centuries.

It was recognized by no less than Abraham Lincoln. He wrote in 1864:

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. ... Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." (http://www.globalissues.org/article/234/the-rise-of-corporations)

Lincoln understood this, still reeling from a horrific Civil War, which was as much about economic viability of a fledgling Union as it was individual freedom. The manufacturing interests of the North needed raw materials supplied by the South, and the future economy of America was threatened by an independent South. It was clear that a divided America would struggle to support itself. The high cost of trading with the seceded Confederate states created a huge hurdle for the continued development of the Industrial North.

Not to mention all that "free" labor provided by slaves. Imagine if plantation owners paid a fair wage to workers on their farms. America would be a very different place.

It was necessary to present concepts that would provoke Americans to lay down their lives in an especially brutal war. To justify war for purely economic means is a tough sell to the average American.

The rich would have none of it, exampled by how military service was sold to poor men of the North when conscription was enacted in 1863. There were two ways to get out of the Civil War: a 300 dollar "commutation fee," or provide a substitute. Soon a class of soldier known as the "three hundred dollar men" developed. Class inequities and forced military service were factors in the New York Draft Riots (July 1863), a particularly violent episode that claimed 120 lives.

The 2002 film Gangs of New York is loosely based on those events.

The Civil War, to most involved, was a fight to preserve a way of life (sound familiar?). The South saw it as an infringement on their culture and their sovereignty. The threat of the Federal government was sufficient reason to fight to protect culture and customs. It was the feeling of encroachment of the North, the hatred of the anti-slavery platform of Lincoln, coupled with a fear of equality for the slaves that fueled the South's spirit for war. Southerners were branded as “rebels” and stereotyped as uncultured and backwards while supporters of the Union had taken the moral imperative to assert superiority.

It would result in the bloodiest conflict in our history, a distinction which continues to this day.

The passion of moral superiority and the comfort of being on the side of right are powerful motives for the decision to act. Control of these emotions, especially for profit, has been the focus of multi-national corporations, governments and religious organizations for millennium.

To be comfortable is a basic human need, and the ability to provide comfort and relief, physically and emotionally, becomes an alluring path to power. With power comes profit.

The most efficient tactic for keeping a group of disparate individuals in line is to convince them your path is a path to comfort. The path to heaven… nirvana… riches… permanent weight loss—all have the benefit of giving some relief to the struggle of existence.

As Buddhists realize, all living is suffering, and the way to relieve suffering is to....

…wait for it....

…live the life they prescribe.

Christians have heaven, Hindus and Buddhists have Nirvana (so did Kurt Cobain, rest his soul), Microsoft has Windows Vista (damn you, Gates!). Drug use falls under the same umbrella. Who doesn't want to feel good? Bayer Laboratories developed Heroin in 1898 as a morphine substitute to (you guessed it) make the Western World feel good, and we all know how that turned out.

Making America feel good has made centuries of entrepreneurs rich, fueled the rise of huge corporations with worldwide interests. It threatens the world with a blanket of "free markets" and turning our little hootenanny we call Earth into one big Wal-Mart.

The never-ending hunger for comfort, and the structure to provide said comfort, continues to be the holy grail of Western business.

Why build a better mousetrap if not to give people the "warm fuzzies" in a home without fear of being overrun by rats.

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OK folks... Before you get crazed; I am NOT trying to tie our "sustain-ability" meme to the Civil War, Heroin use, Grunge music, Martin Scorsese films or rodent control.

But it does make one think, "why do we do any of these things?" Hmmmmm...

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The manipulation of terminology is a linchpin for getting America behind a concept. Key to the success of any campaign of ideas is in making it palatable in as efficient a form as possible. The "green" movement is an excellent example of how a noble effort is pinned onto an economic motive.

Of course, we want to save the world for future generations. As I said earlier; it would be foolish to argue the point. Being "green" gives us, if anything, the opportunity to feel good about ourselves, our community and the fate of the planet.

One look at "Love Canal," the neighborhood outside Buffalo, New York, built over the abandoned chemical dumping ground of Hooker Chemical, and one cannot help to be radically pro-environment, or "green." The sight of family homes and an elementary school which at one time oozed toxic cancer-causing waste, with the predictable Stephen King-like illnesses and birth defects, is unsettling at least. Love Canal (some name, huh?) became a focal point of the burgeoning environmental movement and laid the foundation for the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, known commonly as the "Superfund."

It is now encased in a cement coffin, like some strange alien landscape.

When talking about manipulation, we must differentiate between the hijack of ideas and the classic definition of advertising.

Advertising is an attempt to inform a potential customer base to choose a product with features and benefits that will serve a purpose or fill a need. The desire to inform is the basis of legitimate advertising and the purpose is clear—to sell a product. The path of manipulation is more covert, appealing to emotions that run deep, without really knowing why we feel that way. Soon we stop thinking critically of the motives and just accept them without question.

The green movement (at one time) had some clear objective; clean up a mess that centuries of short sightedness and greedy industrialism have brought upon our planet. Concrete goals and keen understanding were the challenges of the movement’s achievement, with definable results. As time progressed and people understood the need for improvements, a simple agenda morphed into a complex blend of emotions, economics and politics.

Green parties in several countries have taken root and flourished, especially in Europe, during the latter part of the twentieth century. With slow successes and steady growth, the notion of sustain-ability has woven into the very human desire for self preservation. Like marble in the hands of a master sculptor, being “green” had been chiseled, bit by bit, into something beautiful. An artful blend of hope and awareness gives an individual a powerful tool to affect the future.

And boy does it feels good.

The power to make someone feel superior has turned into the power to of comfort for a price. In the past ten years, a deluge of products has traded in on the good will from decades of dedication and hard work. Home Depot added over 2500 new products on its green "Eco-Options" label, and that is just one company. Products need to be green to be viable.

For years, brands of dish detergent have been labeled “phosphate free.” Recent packaging changed to be “certified green” due of the absence of phosphates, with an increase in price commensurate with the new label.

The average consumer knows (for some reason) phosphates are bad, but does not realize that phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant growth. It is the excess of phosphate, a form of phosphorus, which is dangerous. The distinction is passed along without question or explanation.

Sustain-ability is more than just recycling and choosing the right brand of soap. It is an awareness of our place in the world. It is an understanding how we better can fit into the incomprehensible jigsaw puzzle that is existence and still leave room for the other pieces.

“Experts” constantly tell us that “organic” foods are somehow better and healthier. They are being paid handsomely for their opinions. “Organic” has become the new catch word in the battle of the brands. We buy books on organic living (goodbye trees) and watch their infomercials (electric juice does not grow on those trees).

Babies-R-Us even carries the book "Organic Parenting"(?!?)

(I hope we are not eating babies, they taste bad.)

Without really understanding the mechanics and definitions behind what is organic, consumers blindly accept the term, and are willing to pay a few cents more for a can of beans with a different label. It is as if we have been eating inorganic food all this time.

I have a loaf of “green” bread in my kitchen right now, and you can have it all, if you want.

Sustain-ability is more than eating the right foods, buying the right brands and driving the right cars. It is the mindfulness of how we interact with our environment, living a life that takes into account the planet and being a more efficient member of the community. Sustain-ability includes the active knowledge of what it means to be green, a constant condundrum of awareness and education. Understanding how we can treat each with the most essential element of society - respect.

Respect for ourselves by eating right, respect for our environment and for our citizens, be it locally, nationally or planetary, all by living right by your own standards. It all starts with mindfulness of a way that is the best for you.

My biggest fear is that the term “sustain-ability” will meet the wrong fate. Use and overuse will bring certain blandness to a concept that must take priority in our society. The more Americans misuse a phrase, the less gravitas it carries and the less effective the term becomes. Soon the concept itself will suffer. We quickly grow tired of repetition, even though it is far removed from the original intent.

When we grow weary of an idea, it becomes weak and malleable, like clay, making it an easy tool for marketing. In the wrong hands it is a tool that can be dangerous, and overuse makes it negative. Politicians have made an art form of this technique, as history frequently demonstrated.

How can we prevent sustain-ability from the realm of triteness? To sustain "sustain-ability" (ironic), diligence is the key. We must be vigilant of how we are presenting sustain-ability and always remember to use it sparingly.

My suggestion is that if we must drum a concept into the heads of average, plain-Jane Americans, and run the risk of lessening its impact, that we replace the words “sustain-ability” with a term that we have no problem reducing to banality. Something that deserves to be belittled. I nominate the term “Dick Cheney.” That way if the phrase becomes something that America will grow tired of hearing, and tosses into the dustbin of history, that will do just fine.

Peace through respect, not through lack of violence, "but active engagement of compassion" (pg. 116). Globalization is tantamount to violence to local culture by robbing individuality and our "common humanity".

The culture of violence , as Shiva described in Living Cultures, assumes many forms, all devastating to local societies. The “vicious cycles of violence” (p. 109) realized through globalism, greed and “free trade,” erases cultural diversity, essential for humanity's survival. The issues raised in this section must be understood before any meaningful changes take effect. What the West refers to as “making other cultures civilized” (p. 110) actually drains the life from a living society, creating violent destruction in its wake. Imperialists do not see what evils they create, and view native social structures that do not fit into a narrow view of Western culture as something to be controlled and made “productive.” This belief comes from a “misguided definition of poverty,” where “non-Western modes of consumption are often mistaken for misery and poverty.” (p. 113) When multinational corporations such as Monsanto patent seeds with non-renewable traits, it does not take into account the violence created towards indigenous and “sustenance” farmers. Under-production and wide scale crop failure are rampant in the Indian farming class. In southern India, the end result is extreme poverty and despair, leading to no less than mass suicide, which Shiva describes as “the worst form of genocide.”(p. 120) The need for the steady flow of capital in a market economy takes precedent, and the push for “development and poverty alleviation” actually creates new forms of poverty and dispossession.

This “monoculture of economic globalization “ goes hand in hand with religious fundamentalism, using separation and subjugation to create suffering, especially at the expense of women, who are “displaced from productive roles in society, (and) are rendered disposable.” (p. 120) The use of existing class inequities, by both “capitalist and religious patriarchy” who feel the “divine right to rule... make women as human beings disappear.” (p. 132)