Greenpeace vs loggers
NRDC reports in the Spring issue of Amicus Journal (story by John Murphy) as follows: A "widely used group of plastic engineering compounds called phthalates has been shown to reduce sperm counts in rats. Children's toys, cellular phones, and the plastic interiors of new cars are some of the everyday products made with phthalates. Who would have thought that plastics, some of the most permanent and omnipresent materials of our age, would exude biologically active compounds? Who would have thought?"
can't find the zip code and u are on your way to the mailbox? plug in the addresss, city and state and u get the zip in just a click & index for lists of personal webpages of students at every university in the world
the web is a tool, period. Speaking in Internet World, of CondeNet Joan Feeney said "People are used to a computer as a tool, they don't want to read a 10,000-word essay about the joys of Vienna in the winter." Feeney is editorial director of a series of sites that have nothing much to do with their successful print counterparts, and rejects many conventional web strategies if they don't satisfy her "tool" criterion. For example, "Chat events" that force users to be at their computers at certain times. "I don't see the value of asking Julia Child a question in real time, vs an archival format."
The Internet Is For Everyone A newly formed privacy coalition today announced a national PR blitz to fight federal government restrictions on strong encryption and a Clinton administration proposal to give police and spy agencies back-door access to all Americans' encrypted data. The group, Americans for Computer Privacy, is announcing in Washington a grass-roots political campaign, media blitz, and congressional lobbying effort aimed at preserving privacy Sign-on statement supporting free speech principle for the Internet
India Watch MTV India is received in over 7.8 million homes in India via cable. They are gearing up with a campaign like Rock the Vote to deal with the political apathy of India's youth also... Richard Gere is helping India deal with AIDS by helping to launch a campaign in India to raise awareness of the dangers of AIDS/HIV. But, according to Court News, there is the matter of a lawsuit against Gere filed at the end of 1996: Aned Productions v.Richard Gere: Actor agreed to appear as honored celebrity guest at a concert in Greece to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation. He made a series of demands which were agreed to that included reservations as a five-star hotel for himself and his entourage, a Lear jet to pick him up in India, 24-hour Mercedes Benz limousine service, and an advance payment of $500,000 to the Gere Foundation which supports the Tibetan Buddhist community. Then Gere allegedly decided not to appear and the concert had to be canceled.
World's Simplest Eco-Paper Procurement Guide Most companies want to use the most environmentally-sound paper they can buy. But recycled paper procurement guides are often complicated, confusing, and obsolete by the time they reach you. To solve that, Greg Dicum, Global Futures' senior analyst for forest issues, has created the World's Simplest Eco-Paper Procurement Guide. The one-page guide is available free to all Future 500 members, and to any company that commits to a procurement policy that favors state-of-the-art environmental paper products. Join Future 500 or receive your free guide
GO Organic with those t-shirts! from Josh Knauer The EnviroLink Network: Our Go Organic Campaign is really taking off. Soon you will see our apparel in some rather mainstream stores around the country. Our main goal is to take organic products to the mainstream. It appears to be off to a good start. One of the other aspects for the campaign is to encourage other non-profits to switch from "natural" (which is just a color in the apparel industry) or conventional cotton to 100% certified organic cotton t-shirts and apparel. The vendors that we are working with are finally offering t-shirts at a price that is competetive with conventional cotton, and the Go Organic Campaign will set up the online commerce area for the organizations that join. The organization walks away with custom shirts, a website to sell them, and all distribution issues taken care of.
ten reasons to use the modem and not a condom: Seems like cybersex is all over the news these days. You've already seen how "Playboy" is seeking to increase its influence in the online world. MSNBC raised a bit of an uproar when they announced their intention to conduct a cybersex survey So what's the big deal? Why is netsex gaining popularity on old fashioned sex? 10. It's easy to turn a computer on--just flip the switch. 9. Virtual dancing baby easier to care for than real one. 8. Less threat of Kenneth Starr investigation. 7. No trips to the doctor if you catch a computer virus. 6. The low cost of commitment: only $19.95 in ISP charges. 5. Monitor size doesn't matter. 4. Easier to hide a laptop if someone walks in. 3. You never spend a penny on deodorant, or perfume 2. Everybody assumes "clinton@whitehouse.gov" is an alias. 1. No need to say, "I have a headache"--just claim you couldn't dial into your AOL account.
Zen and the Brain Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness James H. Austin, M.D. Aldous Huxley called humankind's basic trend toward spiritual growth the "perennial philosophy." In the view of James Austin, the trend implies a "perennial psychophysiology"--because awakening, or enlightenment, occurs when the human brain undergoes substantial changes. What are the peak experiences of enlightenment? How could these states profoundly enhance, and yet simplify, the workings of the brain? Zen and the Brain presents the latest evidence. For more information & see the new baths at Esalen (the old ones were destroyed in the El Nino storms)
are we dead yet? << Now tell me the definative way that you can tell that you are actually alive, or dead for that matter right now. Since you don't know what is like to be dead, how do you know that you are not already? I am completely serious with this. How many of you remember dying and finding yourselves back here again and again and again like Bill Murray in GROUNDHOG DAY. Even if you don't remember dying one or more times how can you really tell? Maybe some people have near life experiences. by Fred Davis in the NOVELTY Digest - 21 Feb 1998
Big Brother in Canada? A secret hearing of Canda's Immigration and Refugee Board was told the Canadian government paid $31-million during the early 1980s for state-of-the-art software to track Canadian citizens by interfacing with credit card transactions, banking data, driver's license information, pension records, taxation information, criminal records and immigration records, according to transcripts. The U.S.-made Promis system could provide details of a person's health care and even library transactions. (from Ottawa Sun 2 Feb 98 via Edupage)
Encryption 101 - a mandatory course Encryption is a very important issue for everyone to start getting up to speed on. "We now live in a world where video cameras are omnipresent and credit card trails are unavoidable. Even worse, the Internet's emergence as an indispensable means for communication ensures that our every electronic utterance becomes daily more accessible to busybodies armed with supercomputers..." Encryption is an important tool for bringing back the balance... we have enjoyed Andrew Leonard's SALON review of the new book, "Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption," by Whitfield Diffie and Susan Landau.
return to magic... a post industrial blessing "we need a return to the art of natural magic. we need more drum ming to the beat of physiologically compatible rythm signatures. we need an end of the millineum mythology. we need to be in action, we need to be dancing hellatiously to the beat of the rapture. and not a moment too soon." --by Bob Carpenter in the Novelty List: March 8, 98 (owner-NOVELTY@SERVICES.WEB.AOL.COM) May you always stay moist and fecund, have deep cetacean dreams, reduce, reuse and recycle, never run short of stinky crystally buds, stay pregnant with profound perception, and may your airbags never malfunction. --by Ace <maroxco@CYBERIS.NET> in the Novelty List
Apple dumps Dalai Lama HHDL has been dumped from the Asian run of Apple's "Think Different" campaign because, according to Vincent Lum, Apple's Asia-Pacific marketing director, he isn't well known enough in Asia. The five famous people who will help Apple sell its wares in Asia are Alfred Hitchcock, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Mahatma Gandhi, and Amelia Earhart. perhaps Apple should hear from you about this transparent sucking up to China. & 98' Tibetan Freedom Concert in DC: SonicNet, The Milarepa Fund & The Ultimate Band List present the official Tibetan Freedom Concert '98 website The Milarepa Fund's Tibetan Freedom Concert '98 took place at Washington DC's RFK Stadium on Saturday, June 13th and Sunday, June 14th with a rally on Monday, June 15th. Tickets for the event sold out in six hours. Performers included A Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, Beck, Radiohead,Sonic Youth, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, The Verve, KRS-ONE, Kraftwerk. & more. Also featured were notable speakers including Ven. Palden Gyatso and Wei Jingsheng.
BANNED PESTICIDES SHIPPED OVERSEAS Toxic pesticides forbidden in the U.S. were shipped from U.S. ports at a rate of nearly 16 tons per day in 1995 and 1996, according to a new report to be released by the Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education (FASE). Most of the pesticides were headed to destinations in the developing world. The report is the fifth that the public interest group has published since 1991, when it began to document the trade in hazardous pesticides by analyzing transcriptions of U.S. Customs shipping records. FASE found that more than 28 million pounds of pesticides designated as "extremely hazardous" by the World Health Organization were exported in 1996 alone - a more than 500 percent increase over the 1992 total of 5 million pounds. Currently, the group says, U.S. policy allows the export of banned pesticides, as well as pesticides which have never been evaluated by the EPA. from The EnviroNews Service & from Metropolis, a story on the promise of traveling the world without leaving your luxury liner condo.... ``A large luxury ship with 250 spacious luxury homes and 182 guest suites, 7 restaurants, bars, cinema, theatre, casino, a variety of sports, relaxation and cultural facilities as well as a business service centre with professional secretaries and a licensed securities broker on board, is the next logical step in the evolution of both the luxury cruise as well as the resort industry. By bringing these concepts together we are creating a new lifestyle allowing people to travel the world without leaving home.'' Cabinswill come in standard sizes range from 965 to 2,189 square feet, with price tags going from $1.12 million to $5.38 million. If those aren't grand enough, there are two-story and penthouse units, plus some custom homes. Annual maintenance fees for standard suites will go from $61,500 to $241,300. The ship will have 700 residents with 500 full time staff and it is scheduled to take its maiden voyage in the summer of 2000. check the floor plans,or go to the ship's website
the y2k (year 2000) debate from the Novelty List: Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 03:36:31 -0800 From: Gary Glynn <gpg@BLUEMARBLE.NET Subject: Re:System Failure In reference to the banking system ala y2k. I don't think that you'll have until mid-1999 before you see a case of the runs. On April 1, 1999, a new fiscal year rolls over for New York State, Canada and Japan -- that is to say, rolls over to Fiscal Year 00. This could be one of the first actual y2k shock waves to impact us. Japan has the world's largest banks, banks that are completely dependent on dated digital transfers. Japan is already on shaky fiscal ground and come Fall 98, if word leaks that the banks are going belly-up come Spring 99, you can bet (in gold) that Japanese housewifes will run on the banks. I would guess that a run on banks in New York OR Canada OR Japan would be enough to trigger a global bank-run. Treasuries wouldn't be able to print money fast enough (haven't we already learned this lesson?), never mind FDIC. My guess is that banks and global markets will go down BEFORE the Bug bites us in the ass on April Fools Day, 1999. So, if you're thinking about waiting until the last minute to grab your savings and run, you might want move the date back a little. I'm not an investor as I already live rather close to the edge, but I would watch gold and silver markets, especially gold. If the price begins to surge upward, there will be little time left before everyone else as clever as yourself realizes that the last minute has already passed. ---------------- a dialogue on the Novelty List: Joshua wrote: I don't buy the date bug bringing down many ultracritical systems. I think the powers that control and depend on those systems have the resources to keep them going. Then I countered: Here's where you are mistaken. The most precious resource the powers that be need is time, and they simply don't have enough of it to fix the problem. Then Joshua responded: Hmmm.... I didn't say the were going to fix the problem. Egosystems of greed (corporation/govt) have guns/ammo (resources) at their disposal. Those are the resources that could keep them going, should we percieve ourselves still under their control. Well, what does "I don't buy the date bug bringing down many ultracritical sytems" imply then? Doesn't that mean you think the problem will be fixed? My take on the matter is this: People will generally have a high level of awareness about the problem, (thanks to the media) and a low general level of understanding (thanks to the media). Isn't that the recipe for fear? <snip> I do agree there will be a general panic, and possibly some kind of fiscal meltdown, and not because of the y2k monster -- but because we percieve the y2k monster to be beneath the bed. The y2k monster *IS* beneath our beds! That's why it's so scary.