Rethos.com - alechenderson's News Feed

As Fire Approaches Big Sur Monastery Monks Prepare to Fight

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:20:23 -0400

TASSAJARA, CALIF. -- In this remote Zen enclave on Big Sur's forested backside, wildfires lurk on three sides. As flames edge closer and ash falls from a crimson sky, the Buddhist monks are readying for a final stand.

Priests and students alike at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center have been doffing their traditional black robes, hefting picks and shovels, and forging 10-foot-wide firebreaks. Atop the roofs of the monastery's old retreat cabins and meditation hall, they've jury-rigged plastic pipe sprinkler systems.

Perhaps more serene than some, they were amon...

Unholy Children

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 03:49:39 -0400

Enter Message / description of files attached:

My Culture Killed Lawrence King

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:11:47 -0500

Yesterday evening, I attended a candle light vigil for Lawrence King in West Hollywood.

My culture tells me that children must adhere to certain rigid rules of conduct, decorum, dress and manners depending solely on the genitalia they receive at birth. If born with a penis children are required to behave as “boys”. The strict boundaries required of “boys” are part of the social conditioning imposed to create conformity in sex roles. Adolescence is a time when children begin the tr...

Teenage Rebellion Now Considered Mental Illness

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:48:15 -0500

For a generation now, disruptive young Americans who rebel against authority figures have been increasingly diagnosed with mental illnesses and medicated with psychiatric (psychotropic) drugs.

Disruptive young people who are medicated with Ritalin, Adderall and other amphetamines routinely report that these drugs make them “care less” about their boredom, resentments and other negative emotions, thus making them more compliant and manageable. And so-called atypical antipsychotics such as Risperdal and Zyprexa — powerful tranquilizing drugs — are inc...

Recent Studies Decry Environmental Impact of Biofuels Reports New York Times

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:41:09 -0500

New York Times February 8, 2008

by Elisabeth Rosenthal

Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have concluded.

These studies for the first time take a detailed, comprehensive look at the emissions effects of the huge amount of natural land that is being converted to cropland globally to support biofuels development.

The destruction of nat...

Participatory Democracy? Step One: Stop Voting!

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:01:05 -0500

PLEASE BOYCOTT THE NOVEMBER ELECTION! DO NOT VOTE! YOUR VOTE IS A VOTE FOR WAR AND POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION NO MATTER WHO OR WHAT YOU VOTE FOR!

Part 1: The Death of the Nation State

“[T]he nation state [is] so unnatural and artificial that it had to be imposed by extreme violence. In fact that’s the primary reason why Europe was the most savage part of the world for centuries. It was due to trying to impose a nation state system on cultu...

American Imperialism: Second Thoughts on Charlie Wilsonâ€™s War
by Chalmers Johnson

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:10:03 -0500

As the presidential election approaches it may be tempting to associate US Imperialist behavior with Republicans alone. Try to resist. This article is a clear and intelligent primer on the historical antecedents to our current global nightmare. And the administration occupying the point position here is not GW’s but rather that of the Noble Peace prize winning Jimmy Carter, America’s favorite ex-prez.

The events of 9/11 were forged during the Carter administration when then defense secretary, Zbignew Brezinsky, the true architect of 9/11 advised the president to auth...

Urban Bike Sharing Coming To The U.S.

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:51:02 -0500

Remember the war monger corporation ‘Clear Channel’? They’re the ones who sponsored the infamous outdoor rallies supporting the invasion of Iraq, denouncing Arab-Americans, and the crucifiction of the Dixie Chicks; not to mention their business model which includes the saturation of the American landscape by mega corporate billboards…Well folks. I am here to report that they are up to something new.

Something good!

Something good? No, I can’t believe it either. But apparently its true.

Let me explain. You see a couple of years ...

Forget the Electric Car: This one runs on compressed air!

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:00:58 -0500

When I first saw this article I thought it was a joke until I watched the BBC video linked to it. This car costs about three grand, goes 200 km on a single tank of compressed air. No pollution and just a couple of dollars to fill the tank. How quickly will big oil see to it that the inventors are murdered, production halted, and any and all reference to it expunged from the national media?

Cable Giants want our Internet and they are Willing to Cheat to Get it!

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:08:15 -0500

One of things I really hate in this world is evil, malicious, and predatory people and institutions who work tirelessly to strip away our basic rights and privileges pretending to be forward thinking progressive and pro-human. Nowhere are these malevolent forces found more plentiful then in the area of corporate media and its attendant efforts to shut down our ability to communicate in a free and critical exchange of ideas and information.

Aided by their obedient lapdog, the FCC, these super-mega media giants have ended all reasonable and necessary pr...

A Thousand Words

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:09:32 -0500

This site contains info-graphics in the form of flags of various countries. Very interesting manner of conveying some very stark realities.

Top 25 Censored News Stories of 2007

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:37:59 -0500

1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media

2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran

3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger

4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US

5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo

6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy

7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq

8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act

9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall

10 Expanded Air War in Iraq K...

Cementing Israeli Apartheid: The Role of World Bank

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 05:31:17 -0500

Despite the 2004 International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision that called for tearing down the Wall and compensating affected communities, construction of the Wall has accelerated. The route of the barrier runs deep into Palestinian territory, aiding the annexation of Israeli settlements and the breaking of Palestinian territorial continuity. The World Bankâ€™s vision of â€œeconomic development,â€ however, evades any discussion of the Wallâ€™s illegality. The World Bank has meanwhile outlined the framework for a Palestinian Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA) policy in their most recen...

If you were born between 1987 and 1990 this coming election will be your first chance to pick a president! Whoops, my bad. I forgot that American Elections are now completely fraudulent!

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:30:14 -0500

20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA

by Angry Girl of

Nightweed.com

CLICK HERE for printable version Did you know…. 1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold

2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0916-04....

Trichinosis

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:53:47 -0500

Enter Message / description of files attached:

Dear Red States

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:12:36 -0500

Dear Red States We’re ticked off at the way you’ve treated California, and we’ve decided we’re leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we’re taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren’t aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and the entire Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California. To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beach...

Tools for White Guys who are Working for Social Change

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:56:55 -0500

Tools for White Guys who are Working for Social Change (and other people socialized in a society based on domination)

1. Practice noticing who’s in the room at meetings – how many men, how many women, how many white people, how many people of color, is it majority heterosexual, are there out queers, what are people’s class backgrounds. Don’t assume to know people, but also work at being more aware.

2a. Count how many times you speak and keep track of how long you speak.

2b. Count how many times other people speak and keep track of how...

Five Simple Ways to Prepare for the Imminent Demise of the Fossil Fuel Era

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:25:06 -0500

Five Simple Ways to Prepare for the Imminent Demise of the Fossil Fuel Era By John O. Andersen December 28, 2007

It’s a fact. The era of cheap plentiful oil, and natural gas is over.

In the coming decade, there will be a major shift to alternative energy sources. To put it mildly, this necessary change will result in tremendous turmoil worldwide. It’s gonna get ugly.

Smart people will begin preparing now.

Here are five simple ways to do just that; to transition from a wasteful mainstream North American lifestyle to a deliberate, inform...

Happy Winter Solstice to all!

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:20:58 -0500

I found the attached document on the internet and I do not know the author (although I wish it had been me!)

Happy Festivas everyone!

Help build a Wiki to shutter the Big Box Retailers

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 20:03:13 -0500

Hey Everyone: Yours truly is trying to shut down the conglomerate stores that control so many of our towns and villages. This is a Jeffersonian project. It is a Wiki that I am trying to start to get folks who want to join in a boycott of the Borg stores like Home Despot, Burger Kill, ScaredButts, Wal-Mart. Please visit us at Here Buy and help your local merchants take back that market from the scourge of the multi-nationals.

A critical essay in reply to Ian Wooden's article re: Inequality and Capitalism

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:14:57 -0500

RE: http://www.rethos.com/news/view/309-Capitalism-and-Inequality-If-Only-Time-Could-Tell-

I have a number of problems with this article.

The authorâ€™s central thesis is apparently that â€œinequalityâ€ is a global problem that cannot be met with a single solution and that no solution(s) have apparently been found and therefore since this heretofore unattainable panacea is currently unavailable, the author proposes to brainstorm for possible solutions and to speculate as to what state we would find ourselves in if â€œwe tackle[d] the topic of creating a more level p...

'Critical Mass' Acts to Promote Urban Bicycle Transporation

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 04:03:41 -0500

Itâ€™s almost seven p.m. Friday night. It is getting dark as I exit the Red Line at Vermont and Wilshire. I have serious doubts about whether I will make it before the others depart. I grab my newly repaired, basement-junk ten-speed bicycle from the rack on the bus and peddle frantically down Wilshire Boulevard chasing the setting sun to the appointed place for my first ride with â€œCritical Massâ€, an organization created for the sole purpose of meeting at a predetermined place and time and traveling by self propulsion through city streets en mass.

All around me I can see,...

We are burning here.

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 23:13:11 -0400

10/22/2007 8:08:03 PM Chatsworth, California, USA

Outside the wind is blowing in 70 mph gusts. The relative humidity is 3%. And the entire world seems to be on fire. Within a 200 mile radius more than a quarter of a million people have been evacuated. Yesterday I was rushed to the hospital by ambulance after being beaten and kicked by my housemateâ€™s boyfriend.
What do these seemingly disconnected events have in common? They are all the result of human violence.

In the past thirty years the population of Southern California has grow...

My Spike TV Debut: Police Powers

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:45:06 -0400

Ok I’ll concede that the Spike Channel is not the hot bed for

enlightened feminism I would like it to be…but what the f**k? I’m on

TV mom!

U.S. to Canada: Political Music Not Welcome!

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:41:06 -0400

Sorry Canada,

We checked with our supervisors at Wallmartaburton and they made it clear that music with ideas in it simply will not be permitted to come across US borders any more.

We have been working hard with our “partners” at Clear Channel and we have yet to figure out how the name : “Death Cab for Cutie” can be considered a real band name for marketing in the United States. Yes yes I know its a solo album by band member Chris Walla but what do you expect? Its called “field manual” and frankly we have a responsibility to ensure ...

Los Angeles Darfur Divestment Rally

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:47:10 -0400

Monday October 15, 2007
Bunker Hill, Los Angeles
Donning the blue berets symbolizing the peace keeping mission of the United Nations, “Save Darfur”, and “Stop Genocide” T-shirts, about 50 activists came together for a peaceful demonstration in front of the Los Angeles Headquarters of the “Capital Group” today.
Led by the Reverend Howard Dotson, of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, (http://www.fccla.org) we leafleted the plaza of the towering Bank of America building followed by a talk by Reverend Dotson an...

News: How can a vibrator in Topeka help halt the spread of AIDS in Hanoi? Just ask Phil Harvey, porn magnate and social entrepreneur.

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:00:45 -0400

When he’s in North Carolina ~~- and not, say, quizzing prostitutes in Vietnam or strategizing with street vendors in Bangladesh -~~ Phil Harvey, founder and chief executive of the world’s largest mail-order purveyor of sexual merchandise, works out of a cramped corner office at his company’s headquarters. The three-story building, which employees jokingly refer to as “the sex factory,” hugs a man-made pond in a corporate park outside Chapel Hill. On the surface, the offices of Adam & Eve look like those of any midsize merchandiser hawking computer...

Phil Harvey combines adult entertainment with philanthropy

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:48:50 -0400

STROLL down the dusty streets of Awasa, a town in southern Ethiopia, and you might find a billboard advertising condoms with the catchy slogan: Value your life! Superior protection. Were you driving along a highway in Toronto, Canada, you might have seen another poster, this one showing a middle-aged woman peering down into her husband’s glowing boxer shorts with the cheery message: Put a party in your pants! The sexual pleasures of the rich may seem a far cry from the family-planning and AIDS-prevention problems of the African po...

DKT International

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:51:17 -0400

Many of you here at Rethos seem very interested in the projects of social marketing and sustainable capitalism. DKT International (http://www.dktinternational.org/ ) has been involved in this type of marketing since the 1970’s.

My uncle, Phil Harvey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Harvey), started this as a student project while in the masters program at the University of North Carolina way back when mood rings were all the rage. He and his project partner started by placing a small ad for mail ord...

Today, over 27,000 children died around the world

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 10:17:51 -0400

Today, over 27,000 children died around the world

by Anup Shah

Around the world, 27â€“30,000 children die every day.

That is equivalent to:

1 child dying every 3 seconds

20 children dying every minute

A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every week

An Iraq-scale death toll every 15â€“35 days

10â€“11 million children dying every year

Over 50 million children dying between 2000 and 2005

The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easi...

None Dare Call it Treason by Vincent Bugliosi

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:23:05 -0400

NONE DARE CALL IT TREASON BY VINCENT BUGLIOSI

“In the December 12 ruling by the US Supreme Court handing the election to George Bush, the Court committed the unpardonable sin of being a knowing surrogate for the Republican Party instead of being an impartial arbiter of the law. If you doubt this, try to imagine Al Gore’s and George Bush’s roles being reversed and ask yourself if you can conceive of Justice Antonin Scalia and his four conservative brethren issuing an emergency order on December 9 stopping the counting of ballots (at ...

First Access Information Devices from Commondreams.org

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:30:31 -0400

Please see the attached word file for a comprehensive list of links that every activist should have.

End of America: A letter of warning to a Young Patriot--Naomi Wolf

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:05:11 -0400

In a stunning indictment of the Bush administration and Congress, best-selling author Naomi Wolf lays out her case for saving American democracy. In authoritative research and documentation Wolf explains how events of the last six years parallel steps taken in the early years of the 20th centuryâ€™s worst dictatorships such as Germany, Russia, China, and Chile. The book cuts across political parties and ideologies and speaks directly to those among us who are concerned about the ever-tightening noose being placed around our liberties. In this timely call to arms, Naomi Wolf compels us to...

Support ENDA: Contact your representative in Washington

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:17:18 -0400

If you take action today, you can help ensure that no member of the LGBT community is left behind!

Members of Congress have put forward a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that does not include gender identity. Champions of the LGBT movement have been working tirelessly to ensure ENDA includes both sexual orientation and gender identity in its language. Now Congress is threatening to exclude gender identity, thereby excluding members of our own community.

It is extrem...

Chimps in a Zoo Cage

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:32:47 -0400

Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for f*offs and misfits – a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage.”_{~Hunter Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas}

If the Bush administration and the US mainstream media are united on any one issue, it’s an absolute refusal to rock the political boat as they sail mercilessly through the seas of corpor...

We must end the Bush/Cheny Regime Now!

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:44:27 -0400

In May of this year (2007) I sent out the following to all my friends and family. The threat of nuclear war still looms as the White House continues to scramble atop the rubble heap called ‘Iraq”.

ALL AMERICANS MUST NOW ACT, WITHOUT VIOLENCE TO DEPOSE THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The President of the United States, fourteen days ago, signed a presidential directive giving himself full dictatorial power over the sovereign United States in the event of an emergency which he de...

The world I want

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:20:39 -0400

I want to join a movement of world-wide universal compassion for all beings. I want to live in a world where people travel by bicycle and grow their own food and who realize, as Epicurus did, that life should be simple, wholesome, nutritional and supportive in all ways, physical, emotional and spiritual. I want to see the end of the corporate hegemony which sucks the life out of our local communities and replaces it with the robotic corporate model of the big box monoliths and the conformist consumer citizen automaton.

I believe in the model of the credit union, the labor union...

Letter Urging Arnold to Sign AB for Gender Neutral Marriage

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:25:16 -0400

Letter to Governor Schwarzenegger supporting the California Gay Gender Neutral Marriage Act.

September 21, 2007

Honorable Governor Schwarzenegger:

At this point in history even the short-sighted can see that there is no future for opposite-sex-only-marriage. More and more the high courts of this country are agreeing that equal protection demands that marriage laws be gender neutral under the heightened scrutiny by which gender based laws are judged.

As women progressively suffer less and less discrimination, the courts will be forced to accept ge...

Rethos.com - alechenderson's News Feed

As Fire Approaches Big Sur Monastery Monks Prepare to Fight

Unholy Children

My Culture Killed Lawrence King

Teenage Rebellion Now Considered Mental Illness

Recent Studies Decry Environmental Impact of Biofuels Reports New York Times

Participatory Democracy? Step One: Stop Voting!

American Imperialism: Second Thoughts on Charlie Wilsonâ€™s War by Chalmers Johnson

Urban Bike Sharing Coming To The U.S.

Forget the Electric Car: This one runs on compressed air!

Cable Giants want our Internet and they are Willing to Cheat to Get it!

A Thousand Words

Top 25 Censored News Stories of 2007

1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media

2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran

3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger

4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US

5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo

6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy

8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act

9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall

10 Expanded Air War in Iraq K...

Cementing Israeli Apartheid: The Role of World Bank

If you were born between 1987 and 1990 this coming election will be your first chance to pick a president! Whoops, my bad. I forgot that American Elections are now completely fraudulent!

Trichinosis

Dear Red States

Tools for White Guys who are Working for Social Change

Five Simple Ways to Prepare for the Imminent Demise of the Fossil Fuel Era

Happy Winter Solstice to all!

Help build a Wiki to shutter the Big Box Retailers

A critical essay in reply to Ian Wooden's article re: Inequality and Capitalism

'Critical Mass' Acts to Promote Urban Bicycle Transporation

We are burning here.

My Spike TV Debut: Police Powers

U.S. to Canada: Political Music Not Welcome!

Los Angeles Darfur Divestment Rally

News: How can a vibrator in Topeka help halt the spread of AIDS in Hanoi? Just ask Phil Harvey, porn magnate and social entrepreneur.

Phil Harvey combines adult entertainment with philanthropy

DKT International

Today, over 27,000 children died around the world

None Dare Call it Treason by Vincent Bugliosi

First Access Information Devices from Commondreams.org

End of America: A letter of warning to a Young Patriot--Naomi Wolf

Support ENDA: Contact your representative in Washington

Chimps in a Zoo Cage

We must end the Bush/Cheny Regime Now!

The world I want

Letter Urging Arnold to Sign AB for Gender Neutral Marriage

American Imperialism: Second Thoughts on Charlie Wilsonâ€™s War
by Chalmers Johnson