Sunday protest: Keystone Tar Sands Pipeline

PROTEST SUNDAY, NOV. 6, 2011 D.C. AND L.A.
Washington Post ad: Obama, say no to tyranny; reject Keystone

• We will return to DC to encircle the White House asking Obama to reject the tar sands pipeline.

This is a call to action. It was issued by a diverse group of movement leaders. The goal is to bring together a massive rally on November 6th in Washington DC. To join the rally, sign up.

We need your help. People got out of jail in DC after two weeks of civil disobedience that led to 1,253 brave people ending up in handcuffs to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

It was the largest such action in decades. And because of their leadership, lots has begun to happen:

The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu along with seven other Nobel Peace Prize winners wrote a letter to the president asking that he block the pipeline. They acknowledged the actions of those in DC:

“These brave individuals have spoken movingly about experiencing the power of nonviolence in that time. They represent millions of people whose lives and livelihoods will be affected by construction and operation of the pipeline.”

At Pres. Obama’s first public speech since the sit-ins ended, a hardy bunch of University of Richmond students unfurled a huge banner demanding that the president veto the pipeline -- followed by similar actions in Columbus, Ohio, Raleigh North Carolina, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Wilmington, Delaware, and many others.

Meeting on the Rosebud Sioux reservation last week, Native tribal leaders from both sides of the border and private land owners from South Dakota and Nebraska signed a "Mother Earth Accord" opposing Keystone XL and the tar sands.

These are the people who started this fight, and they’re being joined by everyone right down to Nebraska Cornhusker football fans who booed lustily when a Keystone ad showed up on the Jumbotron at a recent game. The next day the university ended their sponsorship deal with Trans-Canada Pipeline.

(Amy Dewan/HuffingtonPost.com)

Even as we issue this letter, Canadian activists by the hundreds are risking arrest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. And brave protesters are trying to block shipments of heavy equipment to Alberta from Idaho and Montana.

These are remarkable signs of continent-wide protest.

Huge wildfires driven by the worst drought in Texas history have destroyed towns and killed people; the biggest rainfalls ever recorded have done similar damage in New Jersey, New York, and Vermont. There is real momentum for action and real need.

We have less than 90 days to convince the president not to approve the pipeline. We need to keep using our creativity and bodies as a part of this struggle -- to struggle even though there is no guarantee of victory. Here’s the plan in three stages... More

Do you think I enjoy lying and being the spokesman for the military-industrial complex?

"Revenge of the Electric Car" (video)

Wisdom Quarterly

(LA Times) In 2006, when director Chris Paine released "Who Killed the Electric Car?" the story of GM's short-lived, battery-powered EV-1, the villains were many, but consumer apathy played its role. With "Revenge of the Electric Car," Paine's entertaining follow-up, top GM exec Bob Lutz gives much credit for the company's 180 to consumer outrage. Wall Street might want to take notice of how quickly tides can change. "Revenge" follows the three-way race between GM, Nissan, and Silicon Valley rogues Tesla Motors to bring an electric model successfully to market... More

• Whip My Hair (Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen)
• Santa Rosa Democrats

"GasHole" - alternative fuels vs. oil (trailer)

(DocumentaryTrailers)

"GasHole" is a documentary film about the history of petroleum prices and the future of alternative fuels. The film is a wide yet detailed examination of US dependence on foreign oil supplies. What are the causes that turned America from a leading exporter to the world's largest importer? What are the forces that contributed to that change and that impede its solution?

There are many potential solutions to our oil dependence. Starting with claims of buried technology that easily and dramatically improves gas mileage right now, to navigating bureaucratic and industry roadblocks, to evaluating different fuels available, to questioning the American consumer's reluctance to embrace alternatives. If you buy gasoline, see this movie! Directed by Scott Roberts and Jeremy Wagener.

An optimistic (and witty) discovery of what we do, could do, and
might do to prevent this climate crisis. Directed by Peter Byck.

Breasts, Tourism, Toplessness, and Love Hewitt

Wisdom Quarterly

Jen's "Ghost Whisperer" is based on James Van Praagh's life. But mainly she gives people a serious case of Bebe Stevens Syndrome.

Bigger Breasts equals More Tourists

Giant breasts are becoming the norm in Wellington, New Zealand. The breasts in New Zealand are growing dramatically. Throughout the country the sale of size D thru J have increased 53 per cent. Also embracing the bust increase is the struggling travel industry, which is seeing equivalent lift in their business. More

Wisdom Quarterly continue to reveal the popularity of our favorite agnostic ghost whisperer and yoga enthusiast., Ms. Love Hewitt. Nearly a million and a half views later, she is gaining popularity on what 2012 has in store for the planet. Jen leans toward Buddhism with selfless acts of loving-kindness. We may be under-counting, but official is official.

• Jennifer Love Hewitt bouncing back from breakup with yoga and ice cream
  
  

Buddhists Obsessing On Breasts?

Wisdom Quarterly

The problem has gotten so pointed, even new Buddha statues are affected (Woottamee)

Whether trying to meditate, do yoga, watch TV, or shop for groceries, distractions are everywhere. The Buddha once pointed out that the shape of a woman is a man's greatest obsession, and the shape of a man is a woman's. Why are we obsessed?

It seems to be a deep seated compulsion that goes beyond our cultural conditioning all the way down to the brainstem, the reptilian brain, and the limbic system.

But it is made far worse by the multibillion-dollar breast industry. That's not enhancement, bras, and bathing suits -- it's everything: music, TV shows, ads, sales persons, singers...nothing is free of it. It in no way stops there. And the obsession is not limited to leering men.

Men gawk, while women are more subtle. But it is women who disproportionately suffer from body dysmorphic disorder and an inferiority complexes trying to keep up with airbrushed images. The images are modeled on the figures of pubescent, meat-hormone fed American teens, push-up bra wearers, and post surgery party goers.

Male mammals have mammary glands, too, and they're real breasts.

Mindfulness cures obsession. Contemplation on the repulsive aspects of the body (in 32 parts), because the Buddha did not simply say that we are obsessed. He offered solutions. The body is beautiful. But in it there is a danger. Moreover, there is an escape from the danger.

We are sunk if we simply go through life dragged about by our impulses, being manipulated by the media, and being taken advantage of by those who profit from our wandering eyes and minds.

Envy or lust, what are women looking at?

All mammals, both male and female, have them by definition. Our attention is directed and manufactured by design. What is driving us? If we assume it is "nature," there's nothing to nurture and nothing we can do about it.

If we understand that there is an industry (selling sex, self-esteem, magazines, fashion, femininity, cancer, movies, unrelated product sales, etc.), we can begin to see through it and free ourselves.

• Legalized female toplessness: Overrated?
  
  
• Topless laws in the US discriminate against women
  
  
• Celebrate National Go Topless Day
• Jennifer Love Hewitt wins best breasts in Hollywood
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder (Self-Test)
• Compilation of Jennifer Love Hewitt's finest
• Bust Magazine: new breast exams dangerous