Posted in Political on 12/26/2006 05:15 am by admin
Study Takes Rare Look At How Materialism Develops In The Young
24 Dec 2006
As Christmas approaches, many people blame advertising for stoking the desire among teenagers to own the latest and best in computers, clothes, toys, video games, jewelry, sports equipment and cosmetics.
Some groups have criticized advertisers for manipulating children to demand an endless array of consumer products, while others have decried the creeping placement of branded goods in public schools.
But despite the finger pointing, relatively little is known about how materialistic values develop in childhood and adolescence, a University of Illinois researcher says.
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Posted in Ecological Collapse, General Interest, Political, Sustainable Tech on 12/17/2006 03:31 pm by admin
If wood stoves, solar electricity, and 1 room cabin living are your fancy, then check out this fine creation. This is a farm grain bin that is constructed into 2 separate apartments, each with their own windows, doors, and electricity. The interior walls are made of strawbales and mud plaster.
The grain bin is featured in a television show called “30 Days” directed by Morgan Spurlock in an the episode called “Off the Grid”. The premise is to take 2 normal Americans (from New Jersey) and send them to a rural Missouri eco-village named Dancing Rabbit and learn about sustainable living. They stay there for 30 days. I wrote briefly about the upcoming situation here last year when I first learned that they were featuring the Grain Bin.
Details of the construction and more pictures of the grain bin are at the Dancing Rabbit website here.
It looks like Morgan & FX could not be bothered to create a program guide for Season 1 at the FX website. You can check it out at EBay, though. schneez here
If you have interest in a rustic weekend getaway, then you can contact Dancing Rabbit and inquire into renting a room.
Why do I care?
because I built the place. -Gare :)
Gare’s DR Bio
30 days Grain Bin; 30 day’s grain bin
Posted in Ecological Collapse, Political on 12/17/2006 10:34 am by admin
Arctic ice cap may melt by 2040
Wednesday, 13 December 2006
The Arctic ice cap over the North Pole may disappear during summer by 2040, a new study has found.
The study, just published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters by researchers at the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research, the University of Washington and McGill University, Montreal, found that the rate of polar ice sheet loss can be expected to increase rapidly over the next two decades.
“We have already witnessed major losses in sea ice, but our research suggests that the decrease over the next few decades could be far more dramatic than anything that has happened so far,” Reuters reports researcher Marika Holland saying.
The teamÂ’s modelling suggests that warming of the atmosphere and the Arctic Ocean would lead to sea ice disappearing completely in September each year. In winter, the thickness of the ice sheet could be expected to shrink from an average 3.7 metres to 1 metre.
The scientists have also echoed previous warnings over the danger of a second-round global warming effect being triggered by the loss of the Arctic ice cap. The replacing of white ice that reflects sunrays back into space with dark sea water that absorbs most of the solar energy that reaches it will increase the rate of ocean warming, they warn.
Reuters 11/12/06
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=496
