More ’sustainability’

Okay, ’tis time for a little lesson. I haven’t posted one of these for a while (my other post re: sustainability, from April ‘07, can be found here).

But the lesson won’t come from me (is that applause I hear?). It will come in the form of a short (five page) essay, written by David Orr of Oberlin College, given during a lecture series at the University of Vermont in 2003. In this essay, “Four Challenges of Sustainability“, Professor Orr argues that we — the developed world, the Mass Consumers of the Universe — need to start shifting our paradigms just a wee bit if we want all of this hype about sustainable practices to have much effect. What do we mean by ’sustainability’? What does that mean TO us? Should we believe that it’s only referring to mass recycling, or composting, or whatever else the politicians (and ecological economists – yes, these people really do exist) would have us believe? It’s more than that, and it’s going to take some getting used to.

I am writing a 3-page reflection paper on this essay, and it’s not proving difficult, because I found myself loving what Orr has to say; it is short, sweet, and to-the-point. It also has a hint of “Let’s grow up now, children, and stop whining about crap” tone to it, which is something that I think many of us in the developed world really do need to hear sometimes.

So I thought I’d put it up here, for others to read. It’s a short, easy read, and worth it. This is the type of thing that college students are digesting by the truckload these days. It occurred to me that perhaps other, non-college students might find it interesting, informative, and thought-provoking as well.

Bonus for extra credit: This is something that is making the rounds of classes at UWB; a little travelogue, as it were, of our consumable “stuff.” Most definitely this is worth the 20-minute viewing time (this one simply links to another Web site): “The Story of Stuff,” with Annie Leonard.

And that’s about it for now. I hope everyone had a good weekend and is well-rested for another slog through the work (or work/school) week. Two weeks and counting until the end of the quarter… (and I was able to register for the three classes I want for Spring qtr. – whew!)

Four Challenges of Sustainability, by David W. Orr (2003) [.pdf file]

 

“With confidence in our armed forces…”

* For Lyle: survivor of NAS Kaneohe Bay. And Wade: survivor of USS Tennessee:

I miss you both. *

And to the 2, 404 sailors, soldiers, Marines and civilians killed on that day: you are still remembered, and we honor your sacrifice.

A journey of 3,400 miles. A task force of six aircraft carriers, loaded with 350 planes. Strict radio silence, broken only with “Tora! Tora! Tora!” as a message sent back to the task force to announce that total surprise had been achieved.

A terrible day, but one that needs to be remembered.

~ FDR’s December 8, 1941 Declaration of War – FDR Presidential Library & Museum

~ USS Arizona Web page – National Park Service

~ Pearl Harbor Memorial Museum & Visitor Center – Home of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund. From the site: “Engineers estimate as few as 2 years of useful life remaining before the world’s most complete Pearl Harbor museum must be abandoned.” Donations to assist in preserving this site are gratefully accepted (a secure page).

~ Pearl Harbor Attack: Naval Historical Center

~ Other Links of Interest:

• Pearl Harbor Survivors Association — A wonderful organization. I met some good men (and their wives!) through this. Sadly, many have since left us.
• At Dawn We Slept, by Gordon W. Prange — the finest narrative yet written about the attack and the planning leading up to it. If you desire to learn more about December 7th, begin here. Professor Prange devoted his life – the forty years after Pearl Harbor – to researching both the American and Japanese histories behind the attack that drew the U.S. into war, interviewing what Japanese combatants remained by its end. The manuscript was not yet finished upon his death in 1980, and was posthumously published by his assistants. It remains, IMHO, the definitive account available on the subject. And Michael Bay – “director” – should be ashamed of himself.
• Audio recording in the House of Representatives of FDR’s Address to a Joint Session of Congress; December 8, 1941 — includes a full introduction by the reporter on-hand (person unknown) just prior to the beginning of the speech, as members are still filing in. Really, an amazing recording to listen to in its entirety.
• Pearl Harbor Remembered

 

As Time Goes By

This posting is respectfully dedicated to the memory of my friend, Lyle “Smokey” Jackson.

The banner photo I will use this week is one that I received from Lyle, of sailors dedicating leis during the memorial service for the men killed at NAS Kaneohe Bay on 7 December 1941 (this ceremony to have possibly taken place on Memorial Day, 1942). Lyle was a survivor of the attack on Kaneohe – the first installation targeted on Oahu during that fateful Sunday morning.

During this, the premiere week of Ken Burns’ and Lynn Novick’s “The War“ (click to watch an extended preview on YouTube), I thought I would offer up my 2 cents toward WWII history education; that is, insofar as the music, radio broadcasts and speeches of that era can be educational in and of themselves. Refer to my Memorial Day, 2007 or D-Day postings for more links; included are titles of books, as well as Web sites. As those who know me might imagine, I have enough WWII sites bookmarked to sink a battleship (har-har), but I will spare everyone those, and will instead concentrate on a sampling of the words and music from the era.

Here is PBS’ broadcast schedule of “The War.”

Have a good week, everyone.

RADIO BROADCASTS -and- SPEECHES:

• Edward R. Murrow: Reports during an air raid in London
• KGU in Honolulu to NBC Radio in New York: Reporting the attack on Pearl Harbor; 07 December 1941
• FDR: ‘Day of Infamy’ speech; 08 December 1941 (score music from ‘The Thin Red Line’ plays in the background. Kinda nice, actually.)
• FDR: D-Day Prayer (complete)
• Audio clip from the first Jewish service for the Dead; Belsen concentration camp for women, April 1945. Recorded by BBC personnel, this is one of the most stirring, albeit brief, moments I’ve ever heard.
• Edward R. Murrow: On the liberation of Buchenwald; April 1945
• Sir Winston Churchill:
  • Fight on the beaches… ; 04 June 1940
  • Their Finest Hour; 18 June 1940
  • So Much, to So Few; 20 August 1940
  • Give Us the Tools; 09 February 1941
  • This is Your Victory; 08 May 1945

MUSIC:

• I’ll Be Seeing You — Jo Stafford (my all-time favorite WWII song)
• Sing, Sing, Sing — Benny Goodman – Live at Carnegie Hall, 1938
  • And here’s Louis Prima performing Sing, Sing, Sing – fantastic!
• As Time Goes By — Dooley Wilson (from ‘Casablanca’)
• Medley: Die Wacht Am Rhein & La Marseillaise — A scene from ‘Casablanca’ (this was Mom’s and my favorite: Vive la France!)
• Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy — The Andrews Sisters
• In the Mood — Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
• Moonlight Serenade — Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
• Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive — Johnny Mercer
• Begin The Beguine — Artie Shaw
• Sentimental Journey — Les Brown Orchestra, featuring Doris Day
• (There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover — Vera Lynn
• You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want To Do It) — Harry James (one of mine and Dad’s favorites!)
• G.I. Jive — Woody Herman and His Orchestra
• A Slip of the Lip (Might Sink a Ship) — Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
• Praise The Lord (and Pass the Ammunition) — Kay Kyser and His Orchestra
• Der Fuehrer’s Face — Spike Jones
• Bei Mir Bist Du Schon — Janis Siegel (from ‘Swing Kids’, a 1993 movie, yet a fun version of this song, nonetheless!)

 

Quackery

I just want to go on record as stating that I believe in verifiable, data-driven, cross-referenced, peer-reviewed, double-blind-studied and whatever other hyphenated-version of HARD SCIENCE may be out there. Anything short of that and we’ll be entering the Dark Ages, Part II.

As you might now be wondering, yes – that’s been challenged a lot in my life lately. I’m being forced to try and get someone else to understand that, “Hey, it makes sense to ME” doesn’t quite cut it when you’re talking about research and diagnostic testing. Don’t know if I’ll be successful, but for my son’s sake, I have to keep trying.

T’s Link-O-Rama: Introduction to The Scientific Method, courtesy of University of Rochester

 

A win for WA greens

Through my Inquiry class, I’m now learning more about environmental issues, and that’s been good for me. I need to learn more than simply how to rinse out a pop can so that I can throw it into my recycling. I’ll admit, though, that it nearly killed me when I read that my Lit prof, an American Studies guy and an instructor whom I’d really like to take more classes from, is one of the faculty who is teaching that course this coming Fall. The theme? “America”. <sniff> Still, this has been good for me in many ways.

So here’s a little blurb about the WA state legislature, passing new legislation which should make environmentalists happy: The Oregonian: Environmental Agenda Passes

T’s Link-O-Rama: U.S. EPA: Sustainability ~ Things You Can Do (yes, this is actually a helpful site!)

 

Sustainability vs. zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Having an environmental sciences prof. as my instructor for my Interdisciplinary Inquiry class means that we’ve been discussing primarily environmental issues. Each faculty member in the IAS program takes his or her own turn in teaching this required class, and they’re given great leeway as to the class’ syllabus. It’s essentially an introduction to interdisciplinarity class, showing us how to research across disciplines, to become more critical thinkers, all that fun stuff you do in college. That’s all great, fine – let’s get down to it!

But as some of you must know, that while I’m as interested in environmental issues as the “next” (lay)person, there are facets of its study which I find about as fascinating as watching paint dry. I admit it: I’m a social sciences person. Humanities, history, psychology, sociology – you name it, I’ll pretty much devour it all. But the paper I had to write on urban sprawl was kinda like, “The issues with urban sprawl are such that…” <zzzzzzzz>. Needless to say, it’s a good thing that people other than myself find their lives directed or even consumed by solving some of these critical issues.

But we’ve had some dynamic discussions this past week or so in my class, based on some meaty reading. The most compelling (and easiest to read) of all of these articles is titled, “What Is Sustainability, Anyway?” by Thomas Prugh and Erik Assadourian of Worldwatch Institute. I’m going to post it here. It really is some thought-provoking stuff, and while fairly lengthy, I think it is (or should be) important reading for everyone – not simply college students.

So have “fun”. The link goes to the .pdf file in my Box.net account.

What Is Sustainability, Anyway?

 

Edward R. Murrow would be proud

I just wanted to send out a link and a reminder that a special eleven-part series, presented by PBS and hosted by Robert MacNeil (of the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour), is airing this week at 9 PM on local PBS stations. It’s “America at a Crossroads”, and it’s been pushed hard and frequently on PBS over the past month or so. It is actually a series of eleven independent documentaries filmed by various filmmakers/documentarians from around the world. Out of more than 400 proposals for subjects submitted to PBS, these eleven were chosen to be funded for completion.

Excerpt from the Web site, explaining the series’ objectives:

“America at a Crossroads is a major public television event premiering on PBS in April 2007 that explores the challenges confronting the post-9/11 world — including the war on terrorism; the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; the experience of American troops serving abroad; the struggle for balance within the Muslim world; and global perspectives on America’s role overseas.

Aimed at creating a national dialogue surrounding the crucial issues explored in the series, an extensive media and outreach campaign in more than 25 communities accompanies the series. The campaign features screening events with the filmmakers and their subjects in discussions with United States military personnel, leading policy experts, leaders of the Islamic community, scholars from across the country as well as members of the public. Integrated Web and educational initiatives further extend the campaign.”

Using my DVD recorder, I will be recording the series during its repeats in the middle of the night. I have found that I *must* turn it off in the evenings or I’ll never get my schoolwork done, as it’s just too absorbing.

If anyone is interested in obtaining copies of the DVDs from me, please just let me know. I will endeavor to record each episode (KCTS here in Seattle will begin re-airing the series this coming Thursday morning).

This is top-notch reporting, done over a 2-year period. I think it important that as many people view it as possible, especially intelligent people – such as ourselves!

 

Life, books and ex’s (oh my!)

Just one thought today, really, along with the hope that it will never need to be of use to anyone else I know: Amazon.com Book ~ Ex-Etiquette for Parents: Good Behavior After a Divorce or Separation

Back to the books and figuring out the meaning of life.

Happy weekend, everybody.