Tao’s 2 Cents

agree with Barack that getting rid of the gas tax isn’t going to do crap for us. All the oil companies will do is say, hey, now we can charge 6 cents more. I don’t necessarily agree that we need to develop alternative fuels, we need rearrange our lifestyles and change the fact that we need so many cars. Just the idea of a fuel to burn is wrong, even hydrogen is stupid. We’d be wasting energy converting electricity into a liquid form when we could just NOT turn it into hydrogen and save all of that energy. We don’t need alternative fuels, we need alternative energy and to be more efficient energy in general. We need to be smart. (sigh)

It’s not that great of an ad except for that last line. “And you thought no one could be worse than George Bush”, that kills me.

These are just a couple pictures I snapped when I drove through the park last weekend.
[Show as slideshow]

I haven’t really written much about my new apartment. Essentially I live one block down from I old apartment, except now I live on the 7th floor instead of the 3rd and have an awesome view out of the windows in the living room. I live in a neighborhood called Mt. Vernon which also known as the cultural district. It’s basically in the north east corner of downtown Baltimore.

There are a bunch of cool museums, churches, monuments, statues and generally cool old buildings around the area. The Maryland Institute College of Art(MICA) is right down the road so there’s a bunch of cool wild art sculptures and displays around also, but especially on the boulevard that runs in front of my place

Another fantastic thing…

The most reliable laugh I get every week comes from reading the Onion horoscopes. It’s my favorite kind of dark dry wit. Seriously, check it out.

I’m a scorpio and this week mine was:

“By the time rescue workers reach you this week, not only will you have eaten all of your fellow passengers, but moved on to some of the food they had brought along as well. ”

Which is funny, cause I had a feeling that might happen this week… again.

This last weekend was a good one, the one before it was really good too. I better keep doing what it is I’m doing. John came up to Richmond for a conference so I drove down to see him. I don’t think I’d seen him in well over a year. It was only supposed to take me 2 hours and 45 minutes to get there but it ended up taking about 5 with all the traffic. I left way early to beat it up, but not early enough apparently.

Richmond’s a nice town, it kind of reminded me of what Memphis would look like if it were really cleaned up. We went and ate at an Irish pub with his roommate who he had to drive back Saturday. They both gave presentations at the sociology conference they were at and now that it was over they were both happy to go out on the town…

This is phenomenal. Put a price on carbon!

Gore is passionate, convincing and inspiring. Now I understand what he’s going to do with his new ad campaign. I’m going carbon neutral. I want a footprint so light you can’t make it out in the sand. I want to be a part of the hero generation. Let’s save this planet people!

By the way, you should definitely check out more of the TED talks. They have amazing speakers that give really interesting presentations, performances, etc.

Wow. Three posts in one day. That’s gotta be a new record. I’ve just been feeling the itch to write instead of reading. It probably has to do with spring finally getting here.

Which brings me to my brief fit of window spring cleaning.

I’ve got these two small windows, that should probably just be one big window except for a structural beam in the middle. It’s not clear to me how they couldn’t have known…

We’re being nickeled and dimed. It’s the oldest trick in the book.

I’ve been following the Tibet protests with interest and especially now that they’re following the Olympic torch. One thing that I’ve noticed that China and it’s supporters are saying is that this about sports not politics. Essentially, they say this is not the time or place to discuss human rights.

It’s so incredibly hypocritical for China to say that the Olympics have nothing to do with politics. Does anyone really believe that China isn’t trying to show itself off as a world power with these Olympics? What they really mean to say is no one can use the Olympics for politics except them.

So I say, yes, the Olympics are sporting event AND they are a political event. To say they are merely a sporting event is simply wishful thinking. When sports teams are divided up by nation states, political entities, and then pitted against each other, how can than not be political?

Well, I bought my ticket for this year’s Bonnaroo music festival for the exorbitant price of $277. It’s a lot, but it’s such a crazy unique time that I feel like it’s worth. Plus, I’m also at a place in my life where I actually have some disposable income.

The last Bonnaroo I went to was in 2001, might have been 2000. The whole thing is a blur, probably partly Bonnaroo’s fault. Back then the tickets were $140 and I thought that was insane too. In fact, I thought it was so ridiculous I hatched a scheme with several other people to sneak in…

I went out to my car this afternoon to take a quick trip to the grocery store only to find someone had vandalized my Obama bumper sticker. They had written “Clinton” over the word “Obama” although I had to take a closer look to tell. The Obama text is white on a dark blue background so the black on a dark blue background doesn’t show up too well thank god.

It’s pretty sad that a Clinton supporter tried to squelch my right to my own opinion. I think that says something about both where the campaign is at and the attitude of it in general. It seems like Hillary has been trying her damnedest to disenfranchise people who don’t agree with her while at the same time spouting off about the disenfranchisement of people who probably would have supported her. I’m looking at you Florida.

Anyway, that’s all I had. I’m pissed.

I have a new favorite magazine. I’ve heard about Mother Earth News and probably seen copies of it laying around since I was young but never really read it until a couple weeks ago. I got a subscription after reading about the articles coming out in the next issue and after reading it cover to cover I ordered the 40 years of archives on CD. I can already tell it was an excellent investment. That’s a lot of wisdom for $50.

I’ve been reading back through the issues looking for articles and information that might help me on my way to a sustainable existence. I’d say about 75% of the articles are relevant or interesting to me. I’m especially interested in the renewable energy, natural building, gardening and water/rainwater management articles. I came across a really interesting one on solar power and wanted to share a few of the highlights…[continued]

As of today I am officially in the black. I paid off the last of my school loans and have exactly $0 credit card debt. It’s a nice feeling let me tell you. I imagine it will especially nice when my next pay check rolls in and I know that I get to keep it all.

I feel lucky to have been able to do get rid of everything so quickly. I know that I didn’t have an excessive amount of debt, but that’s because I’ve always been wary about accruing it in the first place. Part of it is just my personality. I don’t like owing anyone anything.

That same eagerness to pay people back sometimes comes back to annoy me though. I guess when I pay people back quickly it makes them think that I don’t mind doing them favors. So those same people begin asking me for more favors, not necessarily money mind you, but favors nonetheless. I don’t mind doing them at first, but a lot of times it becomes habit for them and I start to feel used.

Inevitably I resist and they say, “but I’d do it for you” to which I think, “yes, but I wouldn’t ask you to do that for me in the first place”. I hardly ever ask anyone for favors except maybe my parents (I love you guys) because I don’t like owing anyone and I just like doing things for myself. I guess I just don’t like people owing me anything either, especially since most people don’t feel the same way about indebtedness as I do.

Oh man, I love the Onion.

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

I’ve been telling people that Hillary reminded me of Tracy Flick(Reese Witherspoon) from the movie “Election” and not many people remembered the movie, but some people did apparently. I guess my problem with is that she feels like she deserves because she’s been wanting it for so long. Eh, this is funny though.

I believe that this guy, Richard Heinberg, is absolutely 100% right on the money. I haven’t seen someone sum up everything I’ve read this well yet and I’m so glad I found it. This is why I’d like to start an organic permaculture farm and live a sustainable lifestyle. After I get myself taken care of I want to start working on a local level around the farm to teach others and help the community work on larger community projects that can’t be done by individuals.

Anyway, watch these videos. They’re important. You may not want to hear it, but it may be the most important thing you’ve ever watched.

Click to continue reading this entry and view the other 5 parts to this talk.

Now I’m sure Obama has some skeletons in the closet, but Hillary has a cemetery.

Continue reading this post to watch Part 2.

I haven’t written much in the last few weeks. I’ve been waiting to write something worthwhile. There is so much happening in politics, but I’m so tired of the litany of talking heads that I don’t feel the discourse needs any more noise. Dream tickets, hope, change, change, and more change. […]

As I gave Obama $50, I decided to also give Kucinich $50.  I feel like Obama may be what’s practical but Kucinich still embodies far better my own beliefs.  Even though Kucinich may not be “viable” I’ll still be voting for him in the primaries unless Obama and Hillary are close, in which case Obama […]

Three main things happened that made my decision to support Obama and it’s not because he won Iowa, it’s HOW he won Iowa. I like him before, but wasn’t sure.

The first thing that happened chronologically was Dennis Kucinich, the smart man’s candidate, told the caucuses that if he wasn’t viable, i.e. he didn’t get the 15% necessary, to support Obama instead. That made me take a better look at his stand on the issues and I liked what I saw.

The second thing that made me believe was the turnout. Something like twice as many people showed up to vote in democratic primaries in Iowa than did last year. Those are people who are inspired.

The third thing which occurred to me last night was why the polls were so wrong about Obama in Iowa. It was supposed to be a 3 way tie with 30% all around, so where did Obama’s extra 7% come from?

I’ll tell you where. It came from the people that aren’t being included in polls. People with cell phones. So, who are people with cell phones? Young people. If he’s getting that kind of turnout among young people I think he has a real chance.

I don’t like Hillary because I think she’s sold out too much. I think she thought she had to do it to make it this far, and maybe she did. The other reason I don’t like her is that I think she wants to be president for the wrong reasons. I have no doubt she would be far better than any Republican, but is that really saying very much? She seems like she just wants the history of being the first woman president. Not to mention I just plain don’t believe her when she talks.

I believe Edwards more than Clinton, but he still just doesn’t have as much passion or believability as Obama does to me. There’s also the fact that I feel like he’s already has his shot and he blew it. Granted it wasn’t entirely his fault, but I want something completely different.

Obama does seem like he steals some plays from Martin Luther King’s play book. The way he talks in the souther preacher way, but I have to say, that’s a good play. It’s inspiring and the things he says seem timeless. I don’t get the feeling that most politicians speeches will be remembered through history, but I get that feeling with Obama’s speeches.

Anyway, I’m supporting him. I donated $50 last night and I’ll probably give more. Next week a group from Baltimore is driving down to South Carolina next week to canvassing and just helping out and I think I’m going to join them. I’m excited to finely know where I stand and have a direction to push.

I like the way he simplifies it, but this assumes a rational audience. If only that were true.