http://www.earthday.net/footprint/

okay, so today is earth day, so rather than recycle something, or plant a tree, I returned to the eco-footprint website to see how bad I really am. If you haven't done it yet you really have to give it a go. it's very simple. you just answer a few simple questions and it tells you how many planets we'd need if everyone lived like you. Apparently I'm exactly on the Canadian average, consuming the equivalent of 8.8 hectares of land. If everyone in the world lived the way I do we'd need 4.9 planets. now consider, I don't eat processed food (very often), I walk or bike everywhere I go, and I live in a moderate to small apartment. just for kicks I did it again, pretending to be a jet-set, big house, big car, big consumer american. that's when it told me we'd need another 21 planets. Not to be outdone, I went back and pretended to be a kenyan organic farmer, at which point it told me I was using 0.7 of the global 1.1 hectares available per person. So basicall, either we're all totally fucked, or we're screwing over most of the people on this planet by using up all the resources. Now I have to figure out how to consume 1/5 of what I normally do without starving to death...

happy earth day.

In an increasingly volatile pissing contest, the US and Iran have continued to show their swaggering disdain for human life. As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rallied his troops Tuesday, he continued his onslaught of anti-western, anti-Israel rhetoric. In response to international criticism of his handling of the nuclear debate he responded "be angy at us and die of this anger." Not to be outdone, US "President" George W. Bush responded by refusing to rule out the possibility of a nuclear attack on Iran, should diplomacy fail.

As much as I would like not to be too cynical, I can't help but think that Bush has already made up his mind yet again. let's assess the situation: one one side we have a man who believes he has a special connection with God, who will guide him to victory and... oh wait, that's both of them. To be certain, all this rhetoric about holy war continues to come from those fanatics who think they've got God on their side, justifying their hatred. But now it's a little more serious, with Iran already claiming the ability to enrich uranium, the possibility of a nuclear confrontation is far more plausible than when Iraq was overrun by Mohammed El Baradei and his lot. Of course, Iran is actually looking for an excuse to wipe Israel off the map.

So what can we do about it? well, for one, threatening war against a country that wants war is not a good start. This foolish reliance on war as the most effective form of coercion needs to be seriously reevaluated. But of course, the western world has got its nuts in a vice by relying so heavily on middle-eastern oil. But that's not the only economic connection with Iran. If we're wiling to risk lives in a military war, why don't we consider risking the dollars in an economic war? Cut them off, shut them out, tell Iran that it is not welcome in the community of nations if it won't play by the rules. But then that would mean taking the US to task for the same, in which case it's just easier to bomb the hell out of them and let the victors write history.

Amidst the frantic reading and writing that is this academic season I have somehow found time to be exposed to yet another interesting corner of the web. You can all thank Erin for introducing us to www.pandora.com, the website that streams music to you based on your favourite bands and input. So let’s say you like Thelonious Monk, you type in his name and the first thing pandora does is play one of his songs, but what comes next? This is the cool part. it plays similar music based on the style. So maybe next is Chick Corea, then Charlie Parker then, what’s this? Something I’ve never heard of before! Cool, new good tunes just like the stuff I already like. And if there’s a song I don’t like I tell pandora not to play that kind of thing anymore, and it listens. Or if I really like it I can tell it to play more of the same. Okay, the sales pitch is done, just go check it out, it’s really cool.

-jm