Monday, July 11, 2011

Repeat after me...

Posted by Mickey Z on 07/11 at 04:03 AM
  1. Excellent article Mickey.

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Blackboard Window  on  07/11  at  06:40 AM
  2. yeah, I’ll second Joe on that. I used to exist in the world of tech, luxuriating in international travel, high pay for obscure geeky skillsets.

    Then I got a clue and blew the cash I didn’t blow in living it up on reskilling to about as low-tech a field as you can find…

    As a result I have had my (unused) $40,000 credit limit on mastercard pulled, and card revoked.

    But having a clear conscience is priceless.

    Posted by subgenius from hell-A  on  07/11  at  11:02 AM
  3. Subgenius 2..., How appropriate, mastercard...slaves in debt to their owner.

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  07/11  at  11:06 AM
  4. Thanks...to both subgenius and The Eraser.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  07/11  at  12:42 PM
  5. Hi Joe, Sub, Mickey, and all…

    Mickey, Great article about the truth about technology. When with young ones, I often play the game - “of all that exists, which things should be uninvented”....nuke plants, guns, weapons, toxic chemicals, GMOs, the USA, torture, capital punishment…

    I have a new one up on PressAction.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  07/11  at  02:26 PM
  6. RMJ’s latest: http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/jackowski07102011

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  07/11  at  02:30 PM
  7. If you are looking to kick back and watch a movie any time soon, check out Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. If you have instant view Netflix it’s up there.

    Can’t recommend it highly enough. Excellent.

    Appropriately, captcha sez “plant” - and the movie agrees.

    Posted by subgenius from hell-A  on  07/11  at  02:46 PM
  8. In perspective. After ranting to a young lady demonstrating for equals rights, she said to me, “it could be worst.”

    How much more insanity do we normalize, yet feel things could be worst. I suppose we need to wait for the stake body trucks to haul us away in large numbers before some people realize we’re already there, it has gotten worst and yes, it still could be worst. When will they notice?

    This person was much younger than me so it might take her many years to feel similarly, but the madness has gotten by, has been perpetuated by some people who felt it could be worst. Then there are those who chant we must make the world safe for our children, which translated might say, let me stay asleep, in denial, with my lies.

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  07/11  at  06:53 PM
  9. Joe @ 8

    I think the younger generations - particularly here inside the belly of the beast - have a very difficult time seeing reality due to the epic work of the modern regulated educational system (ie preventing the development of critcal thinking skills) and widespread adoption of electronic toys (of all types) retarding the ability to sit and just contemplate stuff without going for a new stimulus every 5 seconds.

    It’s happening all over the 1st world, but having lived all over the place, I can state with certainty here is where it trends the strongest.

    Posted by subgenius from hell-A  on  07/11  at  10:21 PM
  10. subgenius...I agree.  The big experiment with little kids is not going to help society. Little children should be outside playing, but not in organized regimented groups. Just free play away from electronic devices.  Some schools are now bragging about having electronic devices provided for each child in first grade.  Here, very young kids - 2 and 3 year olds are loaded up into wagons and pulled through town every day. The children who are crowded 10 to 15 per wagon, look like immobile statues. Disciplined to not move. These are little kids who will grow up to be latch key children - all this so the parents can work at low paying jobs. Day care center workers sometimes do the best they can, but why can’t we allow children to spend their early days with someone who loves them, rather than with people who are paid to be with them. (My feminist friends always disagree with me on this.)

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  07/12  at  09:15 AM
  11. Hey Mickey - Albany TV just did a report about a farm on a roof top in Queens. Very interesting. Is it near you?

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  07/12  at  01:23 PM
  12. Hello Expendables...from amazingly hot and humid Astoria.

    RMJ: If it’s in Long Island City, yes, I know that one.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  07/12  at  01:35 PM
  13. This place: Brooklyn Grange farm?

    Video here

    NYT article here

    captcha sez “growth”!

    Posted by subgenius from hell-A  on  07/12  at  01:39 PM
  14. That’s the one I know, subgenius. I was supposed to interview the farmers late last year but Planet Green “downsized” me first.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  07/12  at  01:42 PM
  15. I find this urban farming/urban homesteading movement interesting, but also a distraction. While I would love to have my own inner-city acre to farm, I suspect that dense urban environments are on their way out this century.

    Simply too many resources are needed to keep a city population going, and once the fuel crunch really bites (I give it < 5 years - I am optimistic...) there are going to be issues. Sadly the powers didn’t get on it 30 years ago when the resources to pull it off actually existed…

    Posted by subgenius from hell-A  on  07/12  at  01:56 PM
  16. SUB and Mickey...Albany TV channel was maybe wrong when they said it was in Queens. I immediately thought about Mickey. But they also said that the farm was named The Brooklyn Grange Farm.
    I guess if the farm is on the top of a roof, the deer and woodchucks, and rabbits won’t eat the crop!

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  07/12  at  02:13 PM
  17. RMJ: Surely you meant to type pigeons, squirrels, and rats.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  07/12  at  02:20 PM
  18. Good evening everyone. I think it’s great people in the city and everywhere are growing plants, especially produce.

    What a perfect example they are as well to help bring others back to earth with the common denominator of everyone needing food.

    Is anyone growing tobacco in the cities, or pot? All forms of agriculture are worth considering, I think. Jeanne grew opium poppies last year. We didn’t produce anything but we enjoyed these gorgeous flowers

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  07/12  at  05:38 PM
  19. Great article, MZ. I’d never heard that from Eqbal Ahmad.

    These days I seriously consider ditching both the internet and urban life. If the madness is turned up any louder, I won’t be able to hear myself scream. Ted Rall on once facet of it: http://tinyurl.com/5wwknxp

    Also a great photo of Robert & Jeremiah. It takes a cool cat to nap on 5th Avenue.

    Nice turnout this post…

    Posted by Zen Prole from Pac NW  on  07/13  at  01:01 AM
  20. Zen, 8..., Speaking for myself, and I don’t do it enough, I think taking some time to quiet the mind of all the insanity is important. There is simply too much shit and no balance. I find myself hiking through the beautiful woods or watching wildlife, yet my mind is on the apathy of people, the degenerate state that this country has ALWAYS been.

    It was wonderful to see a weak Oak tree sapling make it through the winter, after covered with 2 feet of snow. For some moments I was refreshed. The barbarians were not in my head. I was, the Oak tree was.

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  07/13  at  05:13 AM
  21. Thanks, everyone, for a full comment thread...in every sense.

    A new post is now up.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  07/14  at  05:26 AM