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The freshly announced mass-market Tesla Model S will be vailable in 2011. It has a range of 300 miles & you can plug it in to charge overnight in your garage. Seats 7 people, so get rid of those SUVs and let's return to smaller, more efficient cars! I know I want one.
There's been so much criticism from the GOP that President Obama hasn't provided much transparency in his first 100 days.. the transparency he ran his campaign on. Truth is, the President has launched an interactive map microsite where you can click on your state and see EXACTLY what's been done about jobs, tax cuts, health care, housing, education, clean energy and more. Turns out, you have to read about it to know about it. >> TRY IT
This is unbelievable, horrifying and shameful. It's nothing new, as scientists have known about it for years. But for yesterday's Earth Day Oprah highlighted the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on her show to bring it to everyone's attention. Scientists believe the biggest garbage dump exists in the Pacific Ocean between California and Japan and is estimated to be twice the size of Texas. Years of plastic bottles, bags, toys, packaging, trash, flip flops, whatever have been swirling in the whirlpool of the North Pacific to land in this area killing wildlife. And there's nothing we can do about it EXCEPT stop treating our Planet as a trash can and recycle recycle recycle.
Watch the Oprah Show's video HERE
In a post today on The Huffington Post, Shephard Fairey gives us the latest on his ongoing copyright battle with the Associated Press. Things are heating up. His lawyers filed his response to the AP's claims against him this week. It includes many examples, like the one above, of the AP using his artwork as well as other famous artists like Jeff Koons, George Segal and Keith Haring within their new AP Images photo database. The AP didn't ask any of these artists permission to use their work on their website and yet they are accusing Shepard Fairey for not asking permission to use one of their photographs of President Obama as reference for his famous HOPE poster. Today the AP released a statement saying Shepard is attacking them. Seems like they can dish it, but they can't take it.
Image courtesy of the Associated Press via Shepard Fairey. And vice versa.
Whatever happened to gathering in the streets? The physical gathering of flesh and blood that makes politicians sweat? Picket lines that make companies bite their nails? And I'm not talking about the redneck Tea Parties brought you by Fox news as of late. It all seems to be fading, although you wouldn't know it by the success of "social" media. What would happen if all the billions of our online conversations, protests, petitions and followers merely disappeared with a flick of a switch? Could happen. It all runs on electricity provided by private corporations after all. Where would all our friends be then?
Would MLK Jr's 1963 March on Washington be larger today or the Birmingham campaign more effective? I really want to believe it would. But part of me thinks that there'd be a mass mobilization online and a weaker turn out offline precisely because we've already tweeted and emailed our rage away. We let our fingers do the walking instead of our feet. The motivation to step out of the comfy confines of our imaginary electronic social world and count ourselves amongst the masses of physical human beings is becoming more difficult to do both personally and publicly (See Free Speech Zones). Or is it just simply less convenient?
Most of us believe we're doing the right thing when we gather in mass on the web. I know I do. The first thing I did after seeing Michael Moore's Sicko was to run home and email every politician I could think of, sign every petition and give money to several organizations. I felt much better, was taking part in the political process and felt I did everything I could. But was I? Or did my name, money and outrage slip down a digital black hole?
We scream our comments online but do you actually hear anything? We gather in groups online that would bring most cities to a standstill, but look outside your window, is it business as usual? It's as if our outrage, indignation and sadness is being funneled, digitized, isolated and then dissipated. There seems to be a disconnect between the digital and the physical. The physical is uncomfortable, inconvenient, dirty and often painful, everything that expressing yourself from behind the computer screen isn't. Perhaps it's just a product of our convenience culture. Check your iPhone for the weather but don't look out the window.
Don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate of everything digital and merely exploring this notion. There are huge successes brought on by social media (Obama) and many others. I say join the conversation, sign the petition, make your comments, pass them on to a billion people. It's the great democratization of information after all. Power to the Tweeple! But at the end of the day, if we don't see the change that we have so strongly tweeted about, it needs to be followed by taking a stand, on our feet, out there. Hey, it might even be a nice day.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bush Protest, Parliament Square courtesy of randydandy via the Londonist Flickr pool
The G.O.P. really needs to wake up. They are in such dire need of leadership that they'll follow any fandangled thing that comes along. Under the guise of protesting higher taxes ala the Boston Tea Party of 1773, people are getting together all across the country today at protest ralles called Tax Day Tea Parties. And it's being reported live by Fox News. The curious thing is that the same people who shouted "kill him" at the McCain/Palin rallies during the campaign are the ones carrying the scary signs you see above. They're saying that Obama isn't an American citizen. That he's a socialist. That he's raising taxes and spending us into oblivion. I won't even acknowledge the first two claims. But where do they get their facts from? The truth is that Obama hasn't raised taxes for ANYONE. He only plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest 5% who will still only have to pay 10% LESS THAN what they were paying during the Reagan administration, and the same as what they were paying during the Clinton years. As for the rest of us? Obama's tax cut for the working class went into effect on April 1st. Now that's something to cry about. Paul Krugman had an interesting take on the G.O.P.'s state of mind in this Monday's NEW YORK TIMES.
David Stout reported in today's New York Times that President Obama said there are "glimmers of hope" concerning the battered American economy, including an increase in lending to small business. This means that the stimulus money is starting to make it's way to small business to meet their payroll and keep their doors open. It's obviously not 100% yet, but it seems the economy is stabilizing from crashing any further. Good news!!
According to Common Dreams, new reports from the World Meteorological Organisation and the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration, the Polar Ice Caps are melting 3X faster than originally thought just a few years ago. As the sea levels rise, what could this mean for everyone living in coastal cities? The terrifying photo at left tells you everything you need to know. Forget the global recession, threat of nuclear war and terrorism, isn't this the REAL threat we should be doing something about? While they are fighting in Washington over weather global warming is real and whether they should tax CO2 emissions, the ice is melting faster than any scientist ever imagined.
