california love

california rising by friends eric and annie at three fish studios. also in multiple papers!

california knows that immigrants feed america

and that we need to protect trans kids

everyone should see this photo by emilio morenatti. refugees are fleeing their beloved countries because their lives are threatened. they are in pain and have faced terrifying journeys. we should be embracing them, not shutting them out.

weekend

it's the weekend, so i am eating sweets and taking walks. (started a new old cars in alameda set, in addition to the truck one.)

i also listened to this american life. the story this week is unbelievable and depressing. an estimated 7,000 eritreans have been held hostage and tortured, raped, and/or killed in the sinai peninsula in egypt. it is incredible that human trafficking on such a large scale has been allowed and continues to happen. and that people (other journalists, government officials, and police in various countries) were so reluctant/refused to help meron estefanos, the eritrean-swedish journalist, who was trying to publicize the story in 2011 and get help for the hostages. hostages that were eventually able to escape to israel, were given little or no assistance in israel, aside from the country letting the survivors live there. and now israel can indefinitely detain new eritrean arrivals and has begun sending them back to eritrea.

here's also a ny times article about it.

/

 
these leaves have probably fallen now. these were the hangers on this past week.

it was hard to listen to the fresh air show about yemen last night. makes me disappointed in obama and our foreign policy, especially in regard to drone strikes and the lack of guidelines around them. 

the interviewee, journalist Gregory Johnsen says:
 
I think that one of the failures—or at least for me—one of the failures of both the Bush administration and the Obama administration has been to not put in place a legal or an ethical framework for the use of drones. Drones I think are a great piece of technology. They are a piece of technology that groups like al-Qaida do not have. They are something that the U.S. I think can use to great utility, and can use to its advantage but they have to be used judiciously, and I don't think that's what's happening right now, unfortunately.  
 
he also mentions a ny times article by scott shane and jo becker that says that the US doesn't count military age males in yemen as civilian casualties when they are killed in a strike zone. they're automatically considered combatants if they are in a strike zone. this makes me very very sad. this disregard for lives (in addition to the deaths during strikes of those the US does consider civilians) can only lead to more violence and enemies.

morning walk

this morning's alameda houses

quick last pre-election links

for prop 37
just label it
great short video that very succinctly debunks several of industrial agriculture's myths 
more 37 links in this post of mine

for obama
those americans who eat food (that's everyone, right?), here's an opinion about why we need obama.
for those americans who care about climate change and the environment, here's another reason we need obama in office. 
for those americans who believe in equality, another reason.

fingers and toes crossed for tuesday!

 

vanishing ice

 
my trip to the city yesterday for a haircut meant salted caramel and a walk down pretty lexington street.

two great photographers are documenting the changes in the world of ice.

james balog who has documented the receding ice through time lapse and still photos, has a documentary coming out called chasing ice.

james also gave a TED talk.

and katrina shared this link to an emotional TED talk by national geographic photographer paul nicklen, who documents the animals who depend on the ice for their survival.

meanwhile neither obama nor romney addresses climate change in any meaningful way. romney's plans would in fact speed climate change—what with his ties to big oil and plans for increased drilling and his ties monsanto (see last post). money for corporations clearly comes before the environment for that guy.

 

37 yes!

 
michael pollan's ny times piece on why prop 37 is so important

and very much related to this, is an in depth look at mitt romney's deep monsanto ties: "mitt romney, monsanto man"

to learn more about the monsanto's evil ways, view the documentary the world according to monsanto.

i don't understand why a company that has consistently poisoned people and the earth for years and years (while profiting off of that destruction) is allowed to continue to exist and continue to pollute us.

and so as not to end on such a depressing and maddening note, here is a nice short video about gary hansen and his jersey ladies and rosa's blog post about decorated sheep.

flowery walk

people like their gardens in alameda. 

cat power first listen! 

i need to post a rant about GMO labeling soon. in the mean time, some good GMO-related articles:

sorry NY Times, GMOs still won't save the world

big tobacco shills trying to stop GMO labeling in california

why pepsico is fighting GMO labeling in california

jere gettle sows the seeds of a movement

wanted: scientific integrity on GMOs

bill gates reveals support for GMO ag 

these companies don't want GMOs labeled in california

❁ ❁ ❁

 

going from rosy alameda to the city of roses—portland (and seattle and the pickathon!). i'll be reading gone girl on the plane. i'm not a big mystery reader, but i heard this is a good one, and so far i'm really liking it. i need to be as distracted as possible on the plane.

some assorted links:

i would like to see jared flesher's documentaries: the farmer and the horse and sourlands.

this film, toxic profits—about how pesticides banned in the US are still exported to other countries—looks like a good one to me to fund via kickstarter.

beautiful photos on the blog dear leila

i like to look at mieke's photos of people's apartments.

❤ this photo

house of cards

see you in a little bit.

farm bill time

americans, if you care about any of the following—small farmers, sustainable farming, food stamps/food accessibility, safe food, treatment of farm animals, it's time to contact your senators about the farm bill. while the current bill mostly sucks, there is still time to get some meaningful amendments added to it. the farm bill lasts five years and affects all of us (we all eat!) and affects animals, land, and water.

two easy ways to contact your representatives:

1. through food & water watch (their letter focuses on two amendments related to small farmers and non-GE food)

2. through organic consumers association (their letter focuses on reversing the food stamp cut)

for more farm bill info, read this open letter from food movement leaders and/or watch a very short video.

for more detailed info, check out this page of food & water watch's site, or check out the book food fight explains the farm bill in greater detail. 

thank you to sofia gatica

congratulations to courageous argentinian, sofia gatica, who has been fighting monsanto for over 10 years and is one of six leaders awarded the goldman environmental prize. (there's a great short video in the article too.)

it is completely baffling and disgusting that monsanto is allowed to continue their "work" (more like greedy exploitation and poisoning), given the long history of their products and actions killing, sickening, hurting people and the earth. the list of their truly evil deeds is so long and so many people fight against them (usually unsuccessfully and sometimes while having their lives/livelihoods threatened by monsanto in the process). how monsanto-ans live with themselves is a mystery.

$20

MLK

some good listens in honor of MLK:

the new jim crow author michelle alexander on fresh air. the last part of the interview is especially powerful.

the latest this american life about apple (and other) products being made in china. storyteller mike daisy goes undercover as an american businessman in order to see what's going on in the factories in china.

wish one could listen online on alternative radio to the whole interview with richard wolff about occupy wallstreet.

the new bill moyers show is also about occupy. i have not yet listened to the whole first installment, but guessing it's pretty good since bill came out of retirement to make it.

farm bill rant

the fate of the US farm bill is not yet decided. currently it's in danger of being (re)written or revised by the super committee instead of its going through any kind of public hearings or the usual (largely pretense of) negotiations. if the super committee writes parts of the bill, almost certainly any new pieces that would benefit small, sustainable, organic and/or beginner farmers would not be included. and the few good programs that came out of the last two farm bills are in danger of not getting re-authorized. if the committee does make decisions about cutting funding, at the very least, they should not be allowed to write any new agricultural policy, as this would be even more undemocratic than the usual already undemocratic farm bill process. this (among other things) is what i learned at a recent kitchen table talk event about the farm bill.

if you care to learn more about the farm bill (which deeply affects us all—our food and our environment) and/or make some phone calls to senators/reps, civil eats has posted a blog that includes pertinent info. also the book food fight, which i have yet to read, can supposedly help demystify the farm bill.

the civil eats post also features a very short video of michael pollan talking about the farm bill. it never ceases to amaze me how good pollan is at tailoring his message to the medium and to how much time/space he is given—such an adept communicator.

speaking of pollan, can't wait to read the new edition of his food rules now illustrated by the fabulous maira kalman!

well

i was trying to photo the marimekko socks that i bought in sweden—almost the only thing i bought for myself in sweden. but a little cat decided he was a far more interesting subject. i suppose he's right.

today i finished the grapes of wrath. it was 27 dollars for a paperback in sweden!! so i figured i better get one that's guaranteed to be good. it was. man. that is one intense trial of a story. constant struggle. and i'm guessing today's migrant farm workers' struggles are not much different. probably even worse in many cases. it's crazy how most of the seeds of today's food movements can be found in that book, published in 1939; we've known for some time how f-ed up our agricultural system is.

new to read, to listen, to see anew

love it when i am excited about my reading list:

housekeeping by marilynne robinson
the devil's teeth by susan casey
a visit from the goon squad by jennifer egan
i know you're out there by michael beaumier
freedom by jonathan franzen
by nightfall by michael cunningham

and got some new (to me) music from the library—the latest the national album.

i say it again: the public library is where it's at.

since i have no new photos to post, i'm posting the above stamp i made over a year ago for an illustrator class assignment (stamps about a social/political issue). at the time, i didn't like my stamp compared to my classmates' stamps, which were much more technically advanced. but i found it printed out at stamp size recently, and now i think it's pretty cute. i wouldn't mind getting it on an envelope.

my seed saving US stamp rant:

This stamp commemorates and encourages seed saving and trading. Seeds connect us to our heritage and to an unbroken chain of people who have saved seeds over hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of years. Immigrants from all over the world have brought their countries’ seeds with them to the United States, preserving and integrating a vital part of their cultures into the greater American culture.

Seeds that have been selected and saved over generations possess an invaluable genetic heritage and are often specifically adapted to the region in which they have been sown. Multinational agrochemical corporations are attempting to control seed supply worldwide, buying out smaller seed companies, dropping the regionally-adapted seeds and instead selling and distributing a select number genetically modified hybrid seeds and patented seeds, rendering the saving of their seeds useless and/or illegal and significantly diminishing the genetic diversity of seeds. By protecting seed diversity through the free saving and exchange of seeds, we honor those before us and protect ourselves, our culture(s), our future and life on earth.

slow clothes

i posted a rant about slow clothes over on sew green.

can't believe i only have one book (a place on earth) left to read of wendell berry's port william books. going to savor it and hope he writes more of them.

beautiful bounty

bigger yonder

some weeks the csa box is more impressive than others. this is one of those weeks. (even pinky leon is impressed—basil sniffing kitty). all of the sudden the colors changed. deep purple grapes and figs and green green peppers. i'm not even a pepper fan, and these look good to me. they look like they are especially crisp, don't they? i had been refraining from buying the hyper expensive figs at rainbow grocery, but they were wearing me down looking so plump and soft and ready to burst. pretty sure i gasped when i opened the box this evening and saw all the figs. just what i wanted. YUM. feeling grateful and lucky.

right now i am reading eaarth (that's with two as for a reason), by bill mckibben. the first half of the book is all about how we cause(d) climate change and about the tragic consequences that change is having across the planet. it's eye opening to read about the crazy many small and large ways climate change is affecting the earth and just how badly we are screwing ourselves. parasite and insect booms, forests dying, species dying, tropics expanding, tundra thawing/releasing bursts of methane, drought, storms. mckibben writes about how we are altering large and important (for earth's climate and for our survival) natural features of the earth (the ocean, the rain forest, the ice caps) so extremely and in mostly irreversible ways! people who like doomsday stories, this might be a book for you. luckily, there's a second half to the book. i'm just getting to that part, but so far it's intriguing and oddly optimistic, given the frightening first half. i'll report back when i'm done with the book. (did you know reagan removed the solar panels from the white house when he became pres? it's almost comical.)

reading

sneaking a post in here. i just finished uncertain peril, a book by claire hope cummings about genetic engineering, the privatization of public institutions and the politicization of science. so interesting and important and thorough and, in many instances, shocking. i wanted to dog ear every page, but restrained myself since i had the book from the library.

cummings is a journalist, and she grounds the chapters of her book in specific places, like berkeley, hawai'i, abu ghraib, norway, vietnam, iowa, mexico. she gives the reader scientific, historical and political information, while telling fascinating stories. and, i don't want to tell too much, but storytelling, it turns out, is vital to our being able to deal with and transform the environmental mess we are in. stories and myths shape how we think.

i just read the first page of another book i checked out, diet for a hot planet, and it seems like it's going to be a continuation along similar themes. anna lappé opens the book by quoting environmental philosopher susan griffin:

Like artistic and literary movements, social movements are driven by imagination...Every important social movement reconfigures the world in the imagination. What was obscure comes forward, lies are revealed, memory shaken, new delineations drawn over the old maps: It is from this new way of seeing the present that hope emerges for the future...Let us begin to imagine the worlds we would like to inhabit, the long lives we will share, and the many futures in our hands.

these words about stories, art, social movements and the imagination encourage me.

❀

flickry spring
from heather
also from heather
no. 2 | a few days after
no. 3 | that windowsill
heads up
like so many clouds
forsythia

this shouting across the divide this american life episode aired again yesterday. the first part is about an american muslim family that gets discriminated against and abused after 9.11. the worst of the family's troubles occurs a year after 9.11, when a hateful book is distributed to fourth grade classes throughout the family's school district. the fourth grade teacher at this family's child's school allows (and fuels) the students' cruelty toward their muslim classmate. a powerful, sad and angering story. the teacher should have been fired in my opinion. and it's shameful that none of the other families in the district complained about this book or about the hateful environment that was being fostered in the schools.

never worn: day 2

buying clothes can be a little like bringing a photo of a haircut to your hairdresser. you expect to look as beautiful as the model once you have the haircut. same thing with clothing. you see a certain dress, and you imagine the kind of person who'd wear it. and you think maybe you'll feel like that kind of person when you wear the dress. and even if you don't look like a model after the haircut, or you don't suddenly become someone else when you step into the dress, sometimes the haircut or the dress does put an extra swing in your step.

i probably had some ideas about how i'd feel in this thrifted number—a bit swaggering/sassy cowgirl at a square dance, with those lacey lines at the top. and of course it falls under two of the categories i mentioned yesterday: dots and transparent parts. sadly it also has always been too small. i think i can actually part with this one now.

nidhi at unworn has been doing this for a while. she has beautiful photos in general and of her unworns.

on a more serious note, my csa farmer, pablito, wrote some interesting stuff this week (scroll down) in his weekly newsletter. pablito was inspired by a lecture by economist jeff rubin. here's a short version of jeff rubin's talk, and here's a long version. he talks about oil, the failing economy and the potential revolution in how we consume/produce things/food and in how we live. (jeff rubin looks a bit like sex in the city's mr. big, huh?)

my mom left for a visit to sweden today. wish i could have gone with her.

book review: fruitless fall

wanted to recommend fruitless fall by rowan jacobsen to you all. the book is about the honey bee and colony collapse disorder (CCD), which is a serious threat to the honey bee (and therefor to life as we know it). while the topic is frightening and depressing, jacobsen managed to completely engage me in his book. almost every page is filled with fascinating information about bees and pollination and how bees are essential to us for so many reasons. even the more scientific info is really accessible.

i recommend reading this book in conjunction with the omnivore's dilemma, because CCD is almost certainly caused by the effects of industrial agriculture. for me it reiterates the urgent need to transform our broken agricultural system. in fruitless fall, jacobsen examines the myriad of factors that have been considered in trying to figure out why CCD is happening. in the end, CCD is mostly likely due to a combination of factors including:

*pesticide, herbicide and fungicide use (and the complete lack of studies on how various pesiticides, etc. react/combine with each other to become potentially exponentially more harmful) (pesticide use is probably the most influential factor. did you know pesticide safety is determined by test results reported BY THE PESTICIDE MAKERS!)
*the transport of hives (trucked cross country and flown between countries)
*bees forced to feed on monocrops (like almonds)
*habitat loss (lack of competition with wild bees, lack of varied nutrient sources)
*use of corn syrup to feed bees
*climate change
*development of wild and farm land (blocks flower scents)
*noise
*possibly even the structure of traditional bee boxes.

jacobsen goes into detail about how all of the above affects the honey bee, and i think you will be surprised by a lot of what you learn about these factors and how they interrelate.

so good! now i want to read some books he recommends, including the forgotten pollinators.

let me know what you think/thought of the book!

bee links
pollinator partnership
bee spotter

cross-posted at sew green