Happy (official) Tentacle Tuesday!

Pandora by ~Tidan

the watcher by ~themanda

Stream more of Sigur Rós' latest via Fabulist!

Standard Oil Octopus via Edgar

::DeadandBeautiful:: by ~DaddiesGurl

Sans Car in SoCal

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE!
Wagga has located Casey Serin's cubicle.


Car racing-3 by ~matreshka-girls

Hat tip to Wagga for this find:
As of Saturday evening, my kid brother is the proud new owner of my 2002 Ford Focus. I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to sell it, since I JUST PAID IT OFF, but it's sold. I was a crazy hippy before, but now I'm an EXTRA crazy hippy. Because Southern Californians have cars. WE JUST DO. And SoCal natives are very attached to their cars, in the way most humans might be attached to a pet, or a child, or a limb. But the car and I never REALLY got along anyway, so perhaps it's for the best that I finally let go -- and now, the car is in a relationship with someone who really LOVES HIM.

Having joined the ranks of the transportationally challenged, Sunday was a very eventful adventure in figuring out how to do things without a car. Things like running errands, which just became exponentially more complicated.
More at Sanctimony
I hope she continues to report on a car-less experience in SoCal. Living without a car in my area can present a number of challenges, but Southern California is quite a bit more complicated.

In other news, for those who missed it the bizarre Laura Richardson foreclosure drama continues.

Feng Shui Cereal

Feng Shui Cereal Ad by =aidon
Breakfast Cereal is salvation.

If proper feng shui can sell a house these days, cereal is easy.

Keroro Feng Shui by ~MyPersonalGackt

Cute Octobabies!


Digg Kris. I have a semi-lost sister named Kristen who may or may not be Kris.

Understanding Peak Oil Can Be Sexy

Hat tip to Wagga for this find.

In case you missed it Peak Oily Cassandra can be found at Zillow Book.

The Post-Car World

Thoughts of Decay by *Digidrama

Following up on the having a car is so 20th century post wagga sent me the following example of Americans changing their driving habits:
As rising gas prices leave drivers with ever-heftier tabs at the pump, Americans have started looking for ways to reduce the drain on their budget. For some, transitioning away from a one-person, one-car lifestyle has proved rewarding.

BTW don't forget to vote on the Laura Richardson foreclosure poll!

In other banal news, my Dr. confirmed I have chemical burns on my elbows.

Channeling M. SINGH

Olbermann To Bush: "This War Is Not About You...Shut The Hell Up!"
Flawed.

You, Mr. Bush, and your tragically know-it-all minions, threw out every piece of intelligence that suggested there were no such weapons.

You, Mr. Bush, threw out every person who suggested that the sober, contradictory, reality-based intelligence needed to be listened to, fast.

You, Mr. Bush, are responsible for how "intelligence communities all across the world shared the same assessment."

You and the sycophants you dredged up and put behind the most important steering wheel in the world propagated palpable nonsense and shoved it down the throat of every intelligence community across the world and punished anybody who didn't agree it was really chicken salad.

And you, Mr. Bush, threw under the bus, all of the subsequent critics who bravely stepped forward later to point out just how much of a self-fulfilling prophecy you had embraced, and adopted as this country's policy in lieu of, say, common sense.

The fiasco of pre-war intelligence, sir, is your fiasco.

You should build a great statue of yourself turning a deaf ear to the warnings of realists, while you are shown embracing the three-card monte dealers like Richard Perle and Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.

That would be a far more fitting tribute to your legacy, Mr. Bush, than this presidential library you are constructing as a giant fable about your presidency, an edifice you might as claim was built from "Iraqi weapons of mass destruction" because there will be just as many of those inside your presidential library as there were inside Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Rather than drive today, walk...

Hat tip to Wagga for this find!

Nearly Fishnet Friday

I love this painting: Simple Boy by Mari Yamagiwa

In other weird bug news, WTF? K, I'll eat avocado before scorpions and crickets.

Ethanol from Garbage!

garbage by ~miss-vomit
What a great idea!

DETROIT — General Motors (GM) says it is investing in a fledgling company that claims its secret process could be able to make ethanol from waste in large quantity as soon as 2010 for $1 a gallon or less, half the cost of making gasoline.
Bill Roe, CEO of 18-month-old ethanol maker Coskata, says the company's process uses bacteria developed at the University of Oklahoma and existing gasification technology to generate 99.7% pure ethanol, plus water. He says the method should leapfrog cellulosic production, which has been seen as the next step from today's ethanol production using corn.

GM won't disclose its investment, but Roe says it's enough to make Coskata "a speed-to-market play. I don't think most people saw this coming," he says. "Most talk about cellulosic ethanol is futuristic."

Coskata's process can use garbage, old tires and other waste, but Roe says wood waste probably will be used at first because it's available, cheap and easy to handle.

More from General Motors finances ethanol maker Coskata

Hat tip to Wagga for this find.

In other news, January 13 through 19 is Slow Down Week.

Gnome Dreamer

Dreamer... by ~Pjotr87

Ask a Republican

Nobody For President 2008 by ~satat

This lovely image of Cheney is dedicated to Edgar.

Via Ze's blog I found this amusing site AskaRepublican.com this morning. Some of the videos are hilarious.

Representative Richard Martin of Ohio's Bio:

Hello! Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior has delivered you to my site. Now let his spirit fill you and watch me answering questions about Republican policy at home or abroad. I hope my patriotism will show you that the best Christians are always from a gated community. I am grateful for my years as a civil servant because I’m now leveraging it in the private sector and the money is pouring inAs CEO of Ohio Petroleum and Synthetics, I guided the stock to an all-time high before I left. It wasn’t easy to leave, but based on the advice of my wife, my children and the FBI, I knew it was time to go. When my golden parachute landed, I had quadrupled the share price*.
Do I regret secretly dumping in the Ohio river? No sir. May I remind you there was a drought and I was merely “contributing” in an attempt to raise water levels, and didn’t want to call attention to my patriotism. Jesus wouldn’t have. This act of charity was spun by the liberal media and the hysterical mothers of some very, very, slightly deformed children..

Energy Recycling Vehicle

I came across this intriguing Japanese streetcar powered by a lithium battery via Groovy Green. It converts 70 percent of its deceleration energy into electricity that is then sent back to the battery. Plus it recharges in under a minute.

The above diagram is from Japan's RTRI site. Too bad we don't have anything like RTRI here.

In other news, I am quite offended by a recent search term that pulled up this illustrious corner of the blogosphere: blogaboutablogaboutablogabout.blogspot.com ... aka a crappy bollywood blog

Nonetheless, I've added it to the blog description above.

To gym or not to gym

Well, I woke up with a sore throat this morning so I figure it's as good a reason as any to waste time online when there's a million other things I should be dealing with.
Anyway the topic of gyms came up on a recent EN thread and I have a problem with them (note to Edgar: yes, Greg could benefit from *some* form of exercise). Can someone please explain why people drive their cars to gyms in order to ride stationary bikes and pay a fee for the privilege? I don't get it.
I have yet to understand why my mother spends 45 minutes driving to an outrageously overpriced gym to do yoga. In the amount of time she spends driving to the gym, she could have completed the task at home and saved money, time and gas. She claims she likes the teachers and the steam room, but as far as I'm concern those benefits don't justify the cost.
In some cases where one might require that exotic equipment to workout, I can understand their reasoning, but for the most part I'm puzzled.
Perhaps I'm missing something, but when I see a parking lot full of gym attendees I shake my head and wonder why. Is it the social aspect? Do some people feel a primordial need to sweat in a room with other people?

Artwork: yoga mirror by ~Atmaniv

Featured Baabaabaab comment: Mitchell on the "The world would soon forget?"

In regards to Edgar's Engdahl link in "The world would soon forget?"

Mitchell said...
Edgar's link is temporarily not working, but you can still find Engdahl's essay at Asia Times, and elsewhere.

I do not think that even Engdahl says that "it was outside influences that got the unrest started". Price rises are always good for an angry mob, especially in a place where the state owns everything. And people do not need the US State Department's go-ahead before they start using digital media to smuggle out words and images of a crackdown. (I note that he overlooked "Blog about a blog about a blog about a blog", in his catalog of made-in-USA subversive institutions.)

There are a few other potentially misleading items I can see. The IMF today is far from being the government-toppling economic enforcer it was in Indonesia ten years ago. And "Malabar 07" only got underway four weeks after the demonstrations started. So I would be very cautious in adopting Engdahl's interpretation of world events. (For a further example, go to his website and see his "ex peak oil" essay, especially his remarks about Russian "abiotic oil" expertise being the prize in the Yukos affair.)

October 16, 2007 6:09 PM

The world would soon forget?

“The lesson so far is that sanctions alone are not enough,” said Michael Green, an expert on Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “They must be part of a larger strategy, and it’s not clear yet that the United States or the international community is prepared to put that effort into the diplomatic side.”

He added: “There is always the danger that the indignation you see could fade. The junta may have calculated that this is like pulling a scab off. A brief pain, but the world would soon forget.”
...
Already China has said it considers the protests in Myanmar an internal affair, and it insisted on muting the language of a United Nations Security Council resolution last week that “strongly deplores” the crackdown.
Although China has joined international criticism of the violence, a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing told reporters last week, “Sanctions or pressure will not help to solve the issue in Myanmar.”
India, which has dropped its condemnation of Myanmar in favor of economic competition there with China, sent its strongest signal not through words but through actions. At the height of the protests, India’s oil minister traveled to Myanmar to sign a deal to explore for offshore gas.
Myanmar’s neighbors in Southeast Asia, who have been abandoning their policy of “non-interference” in favor of strong words, issued a statement saying they were repulsed and appalled by the use of violence against demonstrators. But none has made a move to cut back on extensive economic ties with Myanmar.
...
Excerpts from U.N. Envoy Says Myanmar Must Halt Arrests

In other Burma news: Rolls-Royce Pull Out of Burma

“We welcome the fact that Rolls-Royce have finally done the decent thing, and cut their ties with this brutal regime,” said Myo Thein, Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK. “Companies should not be helping to fund a regime that slaughters its own population. We call on companies such as Total Oil, Chevron, Daewoo, Orient Express and Hutchison Whampoa, owners of 3 Mobile, to follow their example.”Rolls-Royce featured on the ‘Dirty List’ of companies directly or indirectly funding the regime in Burma. The full list can be viewed at: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/dirty_list/dirty_list.php Rolls Royce have now been removed from the list.

Breaking News UPDATE via Edgar: CHOKEPOINT!The Geopolitical Stakes of the Saffron Revolution
Still not sure what to make of this perspective.

Mad Monks and Karma Power

Having been in George W. Bush survival mode for far too long, I'm not easily moved by much of anything these days - until the Burmese Monks protests. "Freedom" has become a BS word thrown about by the Bush Admin to seemingly define the antithesis of the OED definition - except for those lacking Halliburton glasses.
However, the situation in Burma and the bloggers have honestly cracked through my cynical shell. Their cause reminds me of those who founded this country George W. Bush et al. have dragged through the mud.

As they marched through the streets of Myanmar’s cities last week leading the biggest antigovernment protests in two decades, some barefoot monks held their begging bowls before them. But instead of asking for their daily donations of food, they held the bowls upside down, the black lacquer surfaces reflecting the light...

NYT: What Makes a Monk Mad

Hey Guyz, I'm also concerned about the Golden Hello Kitty Cards Costs.

8888 Ultimatum to China

Reposted from Burma-Myanmar Genocide 2007:

Ultimatum to China (due Oct 2, 9:00am)
Ultimatum to the Government of People's Republic of China

We are the 8888 student activists overseas who have been relentlessly seeking for the freedom of Burma from the military rule in Burma, side by side with the 8888 generation in Burma since 1988. As you have already known, Burma has become the most important trouble spot in Asia quite sometime. That was why the Burma's crisis drew the attention of the UNSC to do something about it. And, the US and EU's effort to take action against the regime in Burma under the mandate of UNSC was vetoed by China and Russia on Jan 12, 2007.

Nowadays, we have been calling on you to render full and strong support in our cause – restoration of freedom and democracy in Burma – by co-sponsoring with the US for an urgent agenda in the Security Council but we don't see any profound and immediate assistance in this matter from your Regime. Moreover, China and Russia gave a green light to a slaughter of the monks and activists at the last meeting of the U.N. Security Council emergency meeting by simply saying "just an internal affair". As a result, we have no alternative route to gain your sympathy as a fellow Buddhist country or intervention as a good neighbor but declare a war by any all means possible in non-violent ways.

Chinese government always insists that Burma crisis was not a threat to international peace and security, and it is just its own internal affairs. How dare you to say such a thing like that when the whole world has deplored such horrible crimes against the Buddhist Monks, who are in their peaceful procession chanting the hymns about love, forgiveness and reconciliation. What the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a blunt warning to Burma's generals, noting, as he put it," the age of impunity is dead" is absolutely true. We Burmese dissidents and people all over the world have no more vulnerability. Our patience for China is wearing thin. After we defeat China, Russia is to be next if Russia also fails to comply accordingly.

Here is our demand. Chinese Government must play a leading role to stop killing spree in Burma and support UNSC intervention to Burma. The ultimatum for China to join the world's body will be 72 hours starting from September 29, 2007 9:00 am to October 2, 9:00 am US Eastern Time. If China fails to meet our demands, we have decided to wage you the following global campaigns.
1. Boycott 2008 Olympic campaign
2. Boycott China's products.

Please visit our campaign at this link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc2za8K1RUs

We, all Burmese around the world will organize global action against China allied with Tibetans Dissidents, all religious organizations, any government organizations including all Chinese and Russian friends around the world to participate with us.

Victor Naing (88 Generation)

Date: September 29, 2007

P.S. All Oversea Burmese must show the China that we Burmese are how much smart and sharp and unite when we need to do so.

CCs:
H.E. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-General, United Nations, New York
UNSC MEMBERS NATIONS
EU MEMBERS NATIONS
ASEAN MEMBER NATIONS
ALL RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
USCB US CAMPAIGN FOR BURMA
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET
DASSK and National League for Democracy (Burma)
National Coalition Government of Union of Burma (Washington, DC)
National Council of Union of Burma (Thai-Burma border)
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
Mr. George W. Bush, President of United State of America
All Burmese Citizens in exile

Boycott Total Oil!

Burmese Monks Stage Fresh Protests Against Doubled Fuel Costs

NYT UPDATE: The monks gave authorities a Monday deadline to apologize for beating hundreds of them two weeks ago when they marched peacefully in Pakokku, a center of Buddhist learning, to protest the rising fuel and consumer prices. The apology never came.

While we have been wasting billions of dollars "bringing democracy" to Iraq, Burma has been largely ignored* for nearly 20 years despite their activism.

...It is the latest in a wave of protests across Burma that began last month, when authorities doubled fuel prices.
Monastic leaders have threatened to hold more demonstrations, starting on Tuesday, unless the military apologises for beating monks at an earlier rally.
The monks at that protest, in the town of Pakokku, held about 20 security officials captive for several hours to complain about their treatment.
The group planning protests on Tuesday - The Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks - has urged its followers to boycott the military government.
The monks have been asked to refuse alms and offerings from anyone connected to the military.
Analysts say the boycott will be taken very seriously in Burma, because the nation's 400,000 monks are held in high esteem.
A similar protest by monks in 1988 led to a big uprising against military rule...
Burma monks stage fresh protests, BBC News

*Note: Rare U.S. meeting occurred this summer.

UPDATE!
In other news I really liked this short Irish film...

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