greenie_breizh: (soci grad: painfully aware)
Instead of getting angry about nuclear power and ranting at all of you guys, for once, I'm just going to link to a note (in French) by Dominique Voynet that's particularly articulate, I think.

I also want to link to all these photos from the aftermath of the tsunami/earthquake in Japan; they're awesome and incredible (both in the original sense of the word), and incredibly moving. I also like photos because they make the reality of something like this more palpable to me, even though it remains hard to believe when you're safe and quiet in your corner of the world. Anyway; it's terrifying just how much damage natural catastrophes can do.

And to finish, a cool story from a mom about how she dealt with slut-shaming and her 10-year-old son. I love this because it's doing more than saying, slut-shaming is wrong! and it's actually giving parents (and non-parents) some tools for how to confront this kind of stuff when it happens. I think a lot of why we still don't react to gendered harassment (whether it comes out in the form of homophobia, sexism, or slut-shaming) is that we just aren't sure how to. It's cool to see how other people do it so we can, not necessarily reproduce it exactly, but learn from it. :) Also, a nice reminder that this is why you need to talk to kids about sexuality when they're pretty young, and you can't wait until they're older - these mechanisms are set in place very early on, and if you don't address it there, it's way harder to do anything about them later, once they're well-rooted into a broader system of being in the world.
greenie_breizh: (ftw)
1 sleep until Allie gets back
+
starting new job July 5th
+
buying new bike tomorrow
+
Iceland postcard from Allie in French
+
cat napping with her head against my leg
=
yay!



Now some actual interesting links:

- Accepting Kyriarchy, Not Apologies. On why the term "kyriarchy" is more useful than "patriarchy" to understand patterns of dominance and oppression in our society.

- Rachel Maddow's BRILLIANT fake presidential address. I wish so, so much that Obama had said these things. "If you can't handle the risk, you will no longer take your chance with our fate to reap your rewards."

- Here's another fine mess by Roger Ebert, on the BP oil spill. I don't 100% agree on the idea that we need to go back to an earlier age - I think that usually grossly glamorizes what life was like then - but we do need to learn to use less. In a lot of ways, it's a lot like privilege - we can't expect to keep all our advantages, to be coddled, and we should get over that.

- A post on Hey Baby Hey, an online video game which, essentially, mimics what street harassment can feel like.
greenie_breizh: (green is good)
For anyone who think the current oil spill disaster is solely BP's fault, rather than a product of the way that we exploit oil resources... We could not have stopped Gulf oil gusher, ExxonMobil chief tells Congress.

Scapegoating doesn't help, although I have no sympathy for the situation that BP finds itself in. The problem is much more systemic than that, and I hate that we're probably going to fail to implement any kind of decent regulation to prevent this kind of thing from happening again. And yes, that probably means a ban on off-shore drilling, as far as I'm concerned.
greenie_breizh: (green is good)
Allie and I were talking earlier and for some reason I brought up Hush and I was like, "y'know, the Buffy episode where they don't talk?" And she was like, yeah, Hush! Which makes my little geeky heart so happy, that she would even know episode names, and so I ventured to ask if she'd seen Dr. Horrible, and she has. This, on top of general awesomeness, and the fact that she's borrowed 17 Again from me. Guys. I've really lucked out here!

--

Some not-so-celebratory coverage about the Olympics and two quotes that sum up a lot of issues for me:
- The Guardian: Vancouver's Olympics head for disaster
- MSNBC: Canada’s Olympic city has notorious skid row (I have problems with that one but glad the DTES is getting some attention)
- Sports Illustrated: As Olympics near, people in Vancouver are dreading Games

Carol Martin who works in the downtown eastside of Vancouver, the most economically impoverished area in all of Canada, made this clear: "The Bid Committee promised that not a single person would be displaced due to the Games, but there are now 3,000 homeless people sleeping on Vancouver's streets and these people are facing increased police harassment as they try to clean the streets in the lead up to the Games." (Sports Illustrated)

"The Bailout Games" have already been labelled a staggering financial disaster. While the complete costs are still unknown, the Vancouver and British Columbian governments have hinted at what's to come by cancelling 2400 surgeries, laying off 233 government employees, 800 teachers and recommending the closure of 14 schools. It might be enough to make one cynical, but luckily every inch of the city is now coated with advertisements that feature smiley people enjoying the products of the event's gracious sponsors. (The Guardian)


(Interesting to read people's feelings about the event on the Vancouver LJ community, too.)

--

I am NOT HAPPY with UBC for claiming that they sent an email out to students about a guy who's been banned from the central building on campus for inappropriate touching of women, when no one has actually received that email. Ugh.

--

Reading the platform for Europe Écologie makes me both feel awesome that this coalition even exists and sad to think people like this could be in power and doing so much good but they're not. You know how people always complain that there is no political party that stands for what they believe in? Yeah, I totally don't feel that way. I have so much love for the Green Party in France, even though it's not perfect by any means. But reading about their vision of what to do makes me feel like we could actually turn things around if we had the political courage to do so.
greenie_breizh: (current tv)
A few links I've been meaning to post:

- French interview with José Bové "L'écologie n'est pas compatible avec le capitalisme".

- Still in French, on dubbing and fan subtitling: L'aversion originale des studios.

- Hamlet: Facebook edition

- Dr. Horrible: Facebook edition

- An update on Dollhouse Season 2, what we know at the moment.


Day is not starting out too well. Hopefully it will get better.
greenie_breizh: (green is good)
Obama to let states set auto emission rules.

Why on earth the Environmental Protection Agency would not let California set efficiency standards more stringent than for the rest of the U.S., I don't have a fucking clue, but this is a small step in the right direction. A right message for the Obama administration to send, for sure, So torture and illegal detention, check. Women's rights, check. Environment, check. Wanna place bets on what's next? ^^

(More environmental stuff would be nice if you ask me because let's face it, as much as this sends the right message, it really doesn't do much.)


One thing - I can't remember from reading the news before the inauguration - did the press used to say "Bush to let chickens fight"? Because that's what they do with Obama ("Obama to let chickens fight"), but I keep feeling like it should be "President X to let chickens fight"... like every time they quote people with a title they add Sen. or Rep. in front of their names, but with the President they only go "Obama"? It's pure curiosity, I just can't remember if they used to say "Bush" all the time or if they usually mentioned "Pres." or something in front of his name.
greenie_breizh: (still life)
Found at The Ecologist thanks to [livejournal.com profile] emsana.

It's a video on global warming that focuses on the very important concept of feedback mechanisms. From Wikipedia because I think a concrete example is necessary:

"The climate system is characterized by strong feedback loops between processes that affect the state of the atmosphere, ocean, and land. A simple example is the ice-albedo positive feedback loop whereby melting snow exposes more dark ground (of lower albedo), which in turn absorbs heat and causes more snow to melt."

Basically in the long term our actions can have much more impact than we expected, especially since the extent of feedback mechanisms are often hard to predict. It also partly explains why, if we were to stop existing and affecting climate right now, the temperature would still continue rising for a while.


Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.


The video also mentions a few other important things:
- We've known this is happening for twenty years now. (I am frankly growing impatient with us.)
- We need to consume less.
- Our capitalist (rather, productivist) system requires that we continue consuming more. And the people who benefit most from that system in the short term are going to do everything they can to maintain the status quo.
greenie_breizh: (ecology)
"Shouldn’t sustainability come first and profits second? I think so."

Eliza Dushku, will you please MARRY ME.

(She continues with: "These are the two different ways of looking at the issue. I came away not liking USAID’s' 'The Goal is Growth' slogan. It should be about people first." AMEN.)

Dude. I can't believe I didn't get to that site before. And at the same time, none of it is about enhancing celebrity status so I'm not surprised and I like it so much more for it. Check out the About section, it says it all, really.


Speaking of environmental stuff, I realized I never said anything about my thesis defense/viva/thing - it went well but I was really annoyed at first. I sat down and one of the first thing my supervisor said was that I shouldn't have printed my thesis double-sided. I sort of blinked and asked why because I had no clue (and I'm not sure how she expected me to guess). She said "it's a convention".

...

...it's a fucking CONVENTION to use twice as much paper as you need to print a 70-page document? It's a fucking convention to use up twice as much resources as you really need? What.the.hell. I told her I thought it was terrifying and we moved on but dude, I just can't believe it. Why do we cling on to conventions like that one? What is the fucking point?

On so many levels, we really need to rethink our priorities.
greenie_breizh: (ecology)
"We have to do the things we do that seem so hard on the community to make sure there is a community."
- Joss Whedon interview

This is so true it hurts. And it's so true because it transcends the issues that writers and actors have been having with the AMPTP - at the very core of environmental issues, this is what it's about, too: making tough choices so that we can go on, instead of turning a blind eye to the situation and hoping it'll get better on its own. It doesn't. Civil rights were never won without a fight; the free market will never help the poor, and it certainly will never improve the environment crisis.

We have to make tough choices. And start thinking long term, instead of thinking about how we can make the most money fastest. Instead of believing in a market that's only done good to the richest. That's the only way we're ever going to create communities instead of trigger wars.

The choices are not going to get any easier, either. We complain about rising gas prices while thousands of people are dying of hunger. Let me stress that. Dying. Of hunger. Because the Western world wanted coffee and so developing countries started monocrops instead of feeding their own people. Speaking of eating - start eating less meat. I don't care you like it. Because we eat so much meat, our pasture footprint (the surface on the planet we need to feed ourselves) is 8 times bigger than developping countries. I don't care you love meat. Us liking beef cannot justify using resources so disproportionately and leaving other people starving.

I'd like us to stop thinking it's not related. Of course you're not directly starving a Senegalese when you buy meat - it's not about making people feel guilty. It's about understanding that we're in this together. That it's all interrelated and that our system is deeply unequal in our favor. That we all live on one Earth and our actions do have consequences. Our system, our way of life, has consequences for the planet and for other people. It's about changing. It's about realizing that we're living above our means, worse - that WE are living above EVERYBODY ELSE's means, and they never got a say in the matter.

One of my most hated quotes of all times is a quote by George Bush who said "the American way of life is not up for negotiation". Of course it fucking is. Americans are real nice people (well. most of them anyway.), but that doesn't give America a right to stomp all over the rest of the world.

Let's realize how superior we've been acting, let's stop being brats, and instead of feeling guilty, let's make changes. Soon we won't have a choice anyway, but it's not even about that - I'll rant more about that later, I think. We've built a sick world. We need to reconnect with each other and with the very ecosystem that allows us to exist. Think about your impact. Then do whatever you can to reduce it.

Moderation might not seem as sexy and fun as excess, but it's not a bad thing. We should celebrate moderation - there is nothing wrong about being respectful enough of people and the planet not to care online about getting the most of everything. Excess doesn't mean satisfaction.


(Note the irony of the song I'm listening to - and then turn off your lights whenever you're not in a room.)
greenie_breizh: (annoyed)
Doctor Recalls Abortion Complications Before Roe v. Wave. "It is important to remember that Roe v. Wade did not mean that abortions could be performed. They have always been done, dating from ancient Greek days."

I cannot explain how much it depresses me whenever I read something about guns in America. It especially depresses me when I'm reminded some parts of America are so puritan and so morally conservative, and what the fuck being ok with guns but not with the tiniest bit of nudity. But even on its own, the gun thing just depresses me so fucking much. I don't know when the fuck America is going to wake up to the fact that they have a problem with violence, a problem with guns, and that there's a reason school shootings don't happen in countries where gun ownership is restricted. And believe me, it's not because we're better, more balanced, less idiotic people.

I'm also appalled and pissed off that the U.S., failing the rest of the world as usual, has not signed the treaty banning the use of cluster bombs. The fact that it is one of the biggest sellers of this type of weapons obviously has little to do with that.

Finally, Californian voters will be asked to vote in November on an amendment which would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The Supreme Court has refused to delay same-sex marriage until then, so for 4 months same-sex couples will be able to marry in CA. It is morally very doubious to have the majority vote on the rights of a minority, by the way, but I'm curious to see what will happen to the amendment - four months is very little time for people to realize same-sex marriage really doesn't do much of any damage, and the population is very split on the question right now. I'm very afraid of the scaremongering we're going to hear from morally conservative organizations in the next little while in California. I freaking hate when people encourage fear and hatred rather than inclusion and respect for difference. :(

I could and would rant about France, too, but that would really bring me down too much. The government continues to slash social programs that have made our country a better place, and I can't stand to see us make political choices which bring us a little closer to anglo-saxon countries, because there are lots of good things about the U.S., but economic liberalism is not one of them. CEOs have seen their salaries go up by 54% while employees struggle with rising prices, and yet all we ever do is favor people at the top of the pyramid. The rich get richer and who cares about the poor anyway? That's for charities to deal with. (Nationally or internationally.) Also, fucking stop complaining about rising gas prices and make other choices. We have to change the way we live anyway. Truckers are apparently on strike back home and I'm going to be so angry if the government subsidizes them instead of helping them reconvert and turn to viable jobs. We're not the fucking U.S. - we actually have efficient alternative modes of transportation besides cars and trucks.

See. Now I'm even more pissed off. Argh.
greenie_breizh: (ecology)
L'adoption, prévue mardi 13 mai, du très controversé projet de loi sur les OGM a, à la surprise générale, été empêchée par le vote d'une motion de procédure. Défendue par le député communiste André Chassaigne, qui estimait qu'"il n'y a pas lieu de délibérer", celle-ci a été adoptée à une voix près – 136 contre 135. "Le texte est rejeté", a déclaré, visiblement ravie, la présidente de séance, Catherine Génisson (PS).

Une bonne surprise, totalement inattendue.

Bien sûr, elle sera sans doute de courte durée vu que le gouvernement du moment n'en a pas grand chose à faire du principe de précaution et peut-être encore moins de ce que pensent la communauté scientifique et écologiste, et les français, mais quand même. Un petit peu de démocratie qui marche, de temps en temps, ça fait plaisir. Un petit bâton dans les roues de ce gouvernement qui me décourage l'âme sur mon vélo quand j'écoute le podcast du journal de 12h de France Culture... ce n'est pas désagréable.

Je parlais justement hier avec une icelandaise qui a elle aussi remarqué (difficile de le louper si on fait un peu attention) que l'Europe, contre toute logique (sauf capitaliste irréfléchie), tend de plus en plus à ressembler aux Etats-Unis... ici au Canada, plus possible de trouver de la luzerne non-contaminée par les OGM après leur introduction dans les champs. Alors j'espère qu'en Europe, on aura la consciense d'éviter ça juste pour les millions que les grandes companies semencières veulent se faire sur les OGM.

Parce qu'une fois qu'on dit oui, on ne peut plus reculer. On ne pourra jamais reculer, une fois que des OGM auront commencé à se disperser dans la nature.

Ce serait bien si pour une fois, on prenait le temps de réfléchir aux conséquences de nos actes.
greenie_breizh: (ecology)
Pub jean pour l'environnement. :)


EDIT: Firefly bonus - Simon print by Jason Palmer. It looks really good, very much like Simon and I really like the hands, too. There's a little something that bothers me, I think in the clothing, but that's just me being picky. :)
greenie_breizh: (ecology)
Who: YOU! Everyone around the world
What: Earth Hour
When: March 29, 2008, 8pm your local time
Where: In your own home and/or workplace
Why: To create AWARENESS about energy consumption

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This happens in your home or your workplace at 8pm (your local time) on March 29th WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE WORLD by simply turning off your lights, your TV, your dishwasher, your heating or a/c. You don't have to be in Toronto (they won't let me not put something in that spot) or a major city to participate.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On March 29th, 2008 at 8pm local time Earth Hour will commence ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a POWERFUL MESSAGE about the need for action on global warming.

Be part of making Earth Hour 2008 a huge, global success by telling your friends and family. Remember, every single light makes a statement and makes a difference.

Last year, on 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney (Australia) businesses turned off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney’s energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.

++Pledge your support for Earth Hour and find out more about the lights-out campaign at earthhour.org, the official website.
greenie_breizh: (ecology)
I highly, highly recommend everyone watch The Corporation if they ever have the chance. The movie is chilling, but we need to be aware of the path we're taking as a society, even though most of these steps are being taken without anyone of us being aware of it.

I need to get that movie myself.

Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface, worldwide leader in carpet manufacture:

Drawing the metaphor of the early attempts to fly. The man going off of a very high cliff in his airplane, with the wings flapping, and the guys flapping the wings and the wind is in his face, and this poor fool thinks he's flying, but, in fact, he's in free fall, and he just doesn't know it yet because the ground is so far away, but, of course, the craft is doomed to crash. That's the way our civilization is, the very high cliff represents the virtually unlimited resources we seem to have when we began this journey. The craft isn't flying because it's not built according to the laws of aerodynamics and it's subject to the law of gravity. Our civilization is not flying because it's not built according to the laws of aerodynamics for civilizations that would fly. And, of course, the ground is still a long way away, but some people have seen that ground rushing up sooner than the rest of us have. The visionaries have seen it and have told us it's coming. There's not a single scientific, peer-reviewed paper published in the last 25 years that would contradict this scenario: every living system of earth is in decline, every life support system of earth is in decline, and these together constitute the biosphere, the biosphere that supports and nurtures all of life, and not just our life but perhaps 30 million other species that share this planet with us. The typical company of the 20th century: extractive, wasteful, abusive, linear in all of its processes, taking from the earth, making, wasting, sending its products back to the biosphere, waste to a landfill. I, myself, was amazed to learn just how much stuff the earth has to produce through our extraction process to produce a dollar of revenue for our company. When I learned, I was flabbergasted. We are leaving a terrible legacy of poison and diminishment of the environment for our grandchildren's grandchildren, generations not yet born. Some people have called that intergeneration tyranny, a form of taxation without representation, levied by us on generations yet to be. It's the wrong thing to do.
greenie_breizh: (ecology)
Récupéré sur le blog d'une autre française au Canada:

Trois minutes d'écologie et le capitalisme est-il soluble dans l’écologie?, par Pierre Foglia.

C'est provocateur et je ne suis pas fan du ton, moi l'avenir de la planète me préoccupe en terme d'écologie, mais ce qui compte c'est qu'il soulève des points très importants, surtout dans le deuxième billet. C'est tout notre système qu'il faut repenser... et surtout, c'est bien de s'inquiéter du réchauffement de la planète, mais il faut voir comme ça s'inscrit dans une plus grande échelle, parce que sinon on va casser un truc pour en réparer un autre (genre: le nucléaire...).

Sur ce, je retourne à mon livre du moment: Le Pari de la Décroissance. Il y a comme un thème...
greenie_breizh: (ecology)
Last link before I leave:

The story of stuff. It's long, but important. Watch 'til the end!
greenie_breizh: (political)
First the not so funny, and I wish I'd posted that last night, but last night was busy and exhausting so I didn't:

November 20th is Transgender Remembrance Day. I attended the evening of storytelling that they'd organized at school for the occasion. I was amazing. Most of the stories were uplifting and the speakers had a lot of humor and I really enjoyed it. It always makes me think a lot, and I like that it pushes me to be more and more comfortable with everything that's in between genders, everything that's not easy to label. Girls who like boys who want to be girls who like boys... it's a myriad of possibilities out there, and it makes no sense to limit ourselves to what fits in a box. Identity is never that simple anyway.




Second the funny, aka Joss Whedon, who stopped by whedonesque again earlier. "Meanwhilst, December 7th approacheth. Just wanted to assure you guysthat I'll be there -- even, if by some miracle, the strike is over. Foxis right across the street from a nice park so it'll either be theMutant Enemy Picket or the Mutant Enemy Picnic." I'm so going, but I'm still waiting to find out when I should leave... I should have bought my ticket to L.A. today, but I forgot, so I'll just have to buy it by next week. Best scenario for me would be for the strike to end Dec 8th - I can picket, and we win! Woot!

I've also found out that December 8th is a day for International Demonstrations on Climate Change! Apparently in L.A. they're doing a plunge on Santa Monica Beach, and I'm so there as well. Yay crazy activist weekend! (Check it out, a lot of countries are participating and you can probably find something happening in your corner - I know something's happening in Vancouver, too, but hopefully it won't involve swimming in cold, cold ocean water.)
greenie_breizh: (buffy)
Watch a short video and switch to green power (in French) : rejoignez la révolution énergétique.


Then go read this really great Joss Whedon interview: careful, it has spoilers for the S8 Buffy comics (up to issue 4). He talks a lot about his involvement with Equality Now, which is amazing.

The article also has links to three brilliant pieces of art (color drawings). I particularly love the one with Faith (because Faith's so hot and I love the attitude), but the best one is without a doubt the "I want you to be strong" piece. That's why Buffy isn't any show, or any well-written show. I love that Joss always wanted the show to empower its viewers.

"Equality Now represents, I think, in a very pure sense, the mission I've always had with my fiction - they do it in a different way than I do - to highlight the absolute crippling and absurd inequality between the sexes. That doesn't mean just the differences between men and women, but there is so much misogyny and injustice and there's so much that women just aren't afforded."
greenie_breizh: (Default)
For skeptics about global warming, or even for anyone, the following video makes an interesting argument. Basically, the guy argues that whether or not global warming is real, the course of action to take is pretty obvious.


Interesting Argument About Global Warming - Watch more free videos

One thing though - while his presentation might seem fair to both sides, the leniency goes to the side that says global warming doesn't exist. Let's be clear: there's OVERWHELMING evidence now that global warming is, indeed, happening, and that we're responsible for the speed and intensity of this climate change (as opposed to previous ones that have happened throughout the history of our earth). Of course, you'll always find a scientist somewhere ready to say the opposite, but the scientific community as a whole has accepted this is a fact. (See for example the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, especially its Fourth Assessment, two part of which have been published this year.) So it's not exactly like the two lines are equal as likely scenarios. There's pretty damn tough evidence in favor of global warming.

For a very basic but extremely clear and comprehensive understanding of global warming, there's nothing like Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth".
greenie_breizh: (ecology)
I've been working on my new LJ layout and it happens to have the "Links list" option which I decided to take advantage of. The idea is these links are resources on the two main topics I'm interested in: LGBT issues (and by extension, gender studies/feminism) and ecology. I'm also adding links to news websites that I think can be considered as references when you're trying to keep up with what's happening in the world.

As an afterthought, I added links to books that I think are essential if you want to be informed on these questions.

If you can think of any website/books that really should appear in one of the lists, can you let me know? It's not supposed to be a comprehensive list - just a few pointers, but I obviously don't know all the references on these topics, so the links I chose aren't necessarily the best.


Thanks to a friend, I just found a link to a documentary that had caught my attention during the European exchange in Jerez. "It's elementary" explores the possibilities and actions of teachers who have chosent to acknowledge gays, lesbians and bisexuals in class (specifically in the elementary school setting). It's really good, and a perfect document to study for my research paper next year.

While surfing on that website, I realized there are many videos that would probably be very interesting (as a rule, but also in particular for my research), including "Let's get real", "Straightlaced" and "That's a family". The problem? They're so expensive. I think I'm still going to try and get copies of at least a couple of those once I'm in Canada.

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