Dave Coplin Does it Again

Social Pressure as a Power for Good

So I Raise A Bottle to You! Television Sucks! And What They Did (Do) for Love!

Must-see hilarity, skewering NBC at the Tony's:

TMI: Leamur luvs orange cars...

...and this Ghia is a babydoll (for $30K, she'd have to be):


Here, he talks about how to choose a vehicle to convert:


Choosing a motor & etc:


Brakes & shocks and they offer a hands-on workshop! They're about 2 1/2 hours up the 5 from Sacramento. So for $500, plus airfare & rental, lodging, and meals, Leamur could hang out with a bunch of (other?) middle-aged hippies, greening a car. Just wow. :)


Mounting the adaptor/coupler, flywheel, clutch, your basic dry-run before installation:


Dr. Richard, where do batteries come from?


Battery installation considerations:


Soup to nuts:



http://ev4unow.com/index.html

Continuing the theme of transformation...

Why:


It can be done!


Just for fun!

Lies, Damn Lies, and BP

A Must-Read: What BP Doesn't Want You To Know About The 2010 Gulf Spill

In a nutshell, sweet crude wasn't poisonous enough, so they added "Corexit" to make it more poisonous, but invisible.

"Growing your own food is like printing your own money."

Los Angeles:


Todmorden (Dafuq?!, you say? It's in England.):


A New York City apartment:

Maryland Public Television: Foster Care Stories

The program is interrupted at intervals by interviews with program administrators in Maryland, providing information about Maryland resources. The interruptions are a bit jarring (and repeats Kendra's story), but the information is worthwhile. The program originally aired 3 years ago, so the information isn't far out of date.

Watch Foster Care Stories: A Place to Be on PBS. See more from WMPB.

"Look at me now, Ohhh!"

Love this. It's a "TED Talk" by a couple of girls who made it through the system to college. They are giving advice on how to do it, and referring others to info about AB 12, a California Act that provides transitional benefits to youth aging out of the foster system.

"Without hope you have no trust in anything or anyone."

This Op-Ed in the LA Times is well worth the read. This particularly stuck me: "...nearly 50% of all children who enter county foster care are 5 or younger."

Nearly 50 percent. Are 5 or younger.

I was talking to some coworkers recently about adoption and specifically, about adopting an older child out of foster care.

One coworker, married, has 2 beautiful young children, and her baby boy just turned 1 year old. She developed diabetes during the last month of her pregnancy. She was explaining how she had been telling her husband that she did not want to put her body through that again. She said if they want another child, they will adopt, but only a baby or toddler. She thinks that after that the children have been too affected, will be too hard to fit into the family.

The other coworker is still very young, still single. I think she basically agreed with the married lady, but also she was telling her that she understood my position, that the older kids need help, too. (I don't believe that it's too late to help them, too late to make a difference.)

But now I read this, I am armed for the next time it comes up: Nearly 50 percent. Are 5 or younger. They are not too old, to damaged already to become part of your family.

But me, I'll still want to help an older child.

Everything is Connected: Quantum Climate Change Science

Be sure to watch this all the way through to see the point. Livestock issues are complex and poorly understood, but with planning, can actually improve climate and land instead of damaging them.


Industrial livestock operations are an outdated failure.

Vance's View on Congress's Vacay

Here's that vid I couldn't post the other day:

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

A Place at the Table - Coming Soon

Opens March 1st at the E Street Ciname, showtimes not yet posted.

Take Part.

Jim Vance Speaks Out

On the Redskins' vulgar name:

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

I wish I could posted what he said last night, but it's not up yet. :/

Home Energy Improvement

Home installaton of solar panels:


Installing a home wind turbine:

You Say You Want a (Green) Revolution?

Watch Power Surge on PBS. See more from NOVA.

This is not me. It's not even her. But it's some truth.

Do Nothing!

Tolerance is not a Weakness

This is one of the ads going up in the DC area to try to raise people's awareness of the meaning of Jihad to moderate Muslims. "Religious struggle" and "holy war" are not equivalent ideals. I like this one...

...but I'm not sure most people will get it. What it's saying is that there is a stereotype that a woman wearing a hijab is living under oppression, but that really she is not being weak, she is being modest, and it's something she chooses to do in order to be more virtuous, to become a better person. To me, it's a bit like a woman who chooses for religious reasons to shave her head or wear it very close-cut (like a Buddhist nun). The idea is to force people to see the person, not her adornments. It is also an outward sign of submission to God. I just kinda wish the ad had said "Modestry is a strength", instead of "Modestry is not a weakness."

This commentator explains it well, I think, although I simultaneously get an Ick! feeling from her knee-jerk soul-searcing about how it could somehow be her fault that a sleazy ignorant guy on the bus thought it was OK to quiz her about whether she's available while she's wearing a hijab.

No, sweetie, it is not your fault that sleazy ignorant guys are legion.

Hey! Legion of Sleazy Ignorant Guys: a woman wearing a hijab is signalling that she is asserting her right to be viewed in a non-sexual way, so NO, she does not want to talk to you about dating or how pretty you think she is.

(cheez whiz!)

I thought this would be a good opportunity to look at the viewpoints of some young women who wear the hijab.

This young lady is a convert to Islam. In Texas. From her perspective it has partly cost her her career. I think she explains the concept of jihad well, that it is a test of her faith. As a convert to Islam, she is also grappling with the change in her identity, both internally and as viewed by the community in Dallas, Texas. For her, the whole issue is more complicated than just signalling that she claims her right to be seen as a person rather than a sexual object. There are employment issues, prejudices, and what seems to go the deepest for her, her example to younger girls. The video is long-ish at 13 minutes, but I think well worth the watch for an honest look at someone struggling with these forces.


This lady in England addresses what she sees as the common misunderstandings about hijab:


Another set of women discussing misunderstandings about wearing the hijab:

Go Red!

This is awesome:

"Raritan Bay Medical Center (RBMC) Primary Stroke Center Coordinator, Mirian Medina, RN, and Foundation Development Director, Gina M. Mancini decided to create a dance video to help promote awareness of the dangers of heart disease and stroke to women after being inspired by an innovative health awareness movement at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center's (in Portland, Oregon) Pink Glove Dance video.

RBMC is a proud supporter of the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" movement. We inspired 260 energetic employees from 38 departments to strut their inner dancer while garbed in red. We videoed over two days at the hospital's Old Bridge and Perth Amboy locations in New Jersey dancing in sync to various songs. Produced by NineteenEightyFiveProductions.com"