Cuba got those Greens

Some answers are the simplest. With the looming specter of an 'economic collapse' always on the horizon people start to think about the essentials with more clarity; food, clothing and shelter. How can one secure those three things for their family in uncertain times. Well, for me, it is always about taking it back to basics. Once you start to do that you begin to realize that you should've never departed from basics.

For me that has been my garden. I have a small garden outside and a hydroponic garden. I've been able to grow some nice green leafy things and other treats that has definitely lightened my economic food bill. Now the real question is, why isn't EVERYONE doing this?

Several reasons pop to the mental. Some just don't know how, some don't think they have the time, yet the prevailing reason that I see is that we just have this disconnect from what we eat and where it comes from. That is really troubling because that means we can get fed the wrong food and not even question if it is wrong food.

"..they want us to think that we are all different"

Another thing going down is that many in power have demonized other countries and peoples that we don't even look to see how they are getting things done. Think about it. Cuba has been ostracized on many levels from the world stage. How does an island survive in such a state? They've been living under an 'economic crisis' forever. Maybe we should check them out.

Cuba Relies on Urban Gardens to Feed Hungry Populace

by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 12.17.08

Planet Ark/Reuters has a nice piece out of Havana about how urban gardens are filling a key void in food production after three hurricanes wiped out 30 percent of the country's farm crops. In Cuba, urban gardens have proliferated in vacant lots, alongside parking lots, in the suburbs and on city rooftops, taking up some 35,000 hectares (86,000 acres). Most gardens sell their produce directly to the community and, because the economic embargo restricts agricultural input imports, grow their crops organically.

"Urban agriculture is going to play a key role in guaranteeing the feeding of the people much more quickly than the traditional farms," Richard Haep, Cuba coordinator for German aid group Welthungerhilfe, which has supported urban garden projects since 1994, told Planet Ark.

Some 15 percent of the world's food is grown in urban areas, according to the US Department of Agriculture. That number is expected to risk as food prices rise, urban populations grow and environmental concerns compound.

One cooperative garden in Havana called Alamar produces more than 240 tons of vegetables annually on its 11 hectares (27 acres) of land. : Via Planet Ark/Reuters

Photo credit: Enrique De La Osa/ Files

More on Cuba:

Cuba Does Its Part in Billion Tree Campaign
Cuba's Organic Revolution
How We Will Eat Come the Revolution: The Cuba Diet
Cuba's Environment Threatened as Embargo's End Looms
Economic Crisis Kept Cubans Healthier and Biking

Jacked the above from Treehuger.com

Oil Drum recycling

One way which I always contributed to recycling was in hitting up the Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc and getting my hands on those old records. Nothing is more satisfying to me than finding an old groove that I know ain't nobody thought about blending into a mix. During one of my several excursions I picked up alot of West Indian records from like that boom in pop culture in the 50's and 60's. While reviewing some of those records the other day it occurred to me another major way that Original people regenerate stuff when the colonial powers, known nowadays as big corporations, dump their feces on them. I am talking about none other than the steel drum band.

The steel pan evolved out of earlier musical practices of Trinidad. Drumming was used as a form of communication among the enslaved Africans and was subsequently outlawed by the British colonial government in 1883.[1] African slaves also performed during Mardi Gras celebrations, joining the French that had brought the tradition to the island.[2] The two most important influences were the drumming traditions of both Africa and India. The instrument's invention was therefore a specific cultural response to the conditions present on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

The first instruments developed in the evolution of steelpan were Tamboo-Bamboos, tunable sticks made of bamboo wood. These were hit onto the ground and with other sticks in order to produce sound.[3] Tamboo-Bamboo bands also included percussion of a (gin) bottle and spoon. By the mid-1930s bits of metal percussion was being used in the tamboo bamboo bands, the first probably being either the automobile brake hub "iron" or the biscuit drum "boom". The former replaced the gin bottle-and-spoon, and the latter the "bass" bamboo that was pounded on the ground. By the late 1930s there occasional all-steel bands were seen at Carnival and by 1940 it had become the preferred Carnival accompaniment of young underprivileged men. The 55-gallon oil drum was used to make lead steelpans from around 1947. The Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO), formed to attend the Festival of Britain in 1951, was the first steelband whose instruments were all made from oil drums. Members of TASPO included Ellie Mannette and Winston "Spree" Simon.

Jacked from the full wiki article Steel Drum

What is interesting is that in the article it is not mentioned at all where these drums were coming from. You KNOW people weren't going to the 'steel drum' store to buy oil barrels. What was happening is that the big oil corporations would just dump barrel upon barrel on the islands. Now it doesn't take a genius to realize that an island is a small, enclosed environment and that such pollution would have an immediate effect.

If your immediate lineage is from the country then you may also know another way which Original people in the United States have recycled (yet again, no credit). Go to a real down home BBQ and you might see that oil drum grill. This is just another innovation in recycling that doesn't get alot of shine.

Yet let me not be blase about the comparison between oil corporations and colonialism. Be aware of what Shell, Firestone and ChevronTexaco and other 'colonial powers' are doing in places like Indigenous (Latin) America and the part of Asia known as Africa.

They dump in the in the hood

In this blog I often mention how environmental issues are presented as a 'white granola hippiesque let's save the whales' type of thing. One of the things that I will that you take away from this blog is that the current state of the environment as we know it in the United States is a direct result of the impact of European colonialism. With that being said Original people are often at ground zero in terms of environmental disasters. Not into saving the planet..cool..how about making sure that your children have clean water, air, and food to eat. How about making sure that your soil isn't infested with toxins and heavy metals. Listen THEY (yeah I'm going to rock the amorphous "they") bank on it that you are ignorant. They bank on it that you won't organize together. They get rich off of your labor ad never cared about your welfare from day one. I guarantee you that if you find the impoverished section of your hood where Original (so called people of color) live you will find at leas one major environmental disaster. The question though is what are you going to do about it.

And Justice For All

An environmental expert talks about the challenges of helping disadvantaged communities deal with pollution and climate change at a local level.
By Daniel Stone

The way people are affected by the environment is often presented on a global scale—tides rising or forests dying as a result of climate change. But the way human beings have a direct impact on the planet is often more visible on a local level. Communities closer to industrial areas may be affected by higher than average asthma rates, for instance, and towns with poor water treatment or slow clean-up from disasters may show a disproportionate number of children with developmental problems.

A report released today by two environmental organizations, the Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross Switzerland, found that localized pollution is the leading contributing factor to disability and disease in communities across the world. Even in the United States, air pollution and contaminated water sources result in death, persistent illness and neurological impairment for millions of people. And children, researchers found, are usually disproportionately affected.

Activists for environmental justice claim that the people most affected usually lack the time or resources to fight against factors that will affect their health. But the problem, says Julie Sze, director of the Environmental Justice Project at the University of California, Davis, is rarely politically motivated, at least not explicitly. It's more an issue of business-focused zoning and lax regulatory control. It can also be a symptom of the larger inequality in America, which often falls along race and class lines. Sze spoke to NEWSWEEK's Daniel Stone about the extent of environmental injustice and what can be done. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: What's the scope of this type of environmental injustice? How large is the problem?
Julie Sze: Globalization has really allowed injustice to really go global. The term really describes all different types of problems. Some people use it to describe climate change and how that affects people disproportionately in the third world. It's not [a single] issue but more an analytic frame that describes environmental injustice, so you can apply it to lots of different topics.

Problems like ground-water contamination and lack of clean air are found more in developing countries and more disadvantaged communities. How big is the problem in the U.S.?
You see it more and more in the U.S. There's a huge body of research that looks at the kind of global contaminants that you're talking about—groundwater contamination, toxic expulsion from refineries, whatever—in the U.S. It's definitely [happening] in the U.S., because there's inequality in the U.S.

What causes that? Is it local governments that are corrupt? Or officials who are out of touch with the people their decisions affect?
It's hard to generalize. A lot of it is different in different regions. For example, in the Southeast, you have large communities of African-Americans who live around the oil refineries down there. It can also be a factor of employment discrimination. If you look at [the effect of] nuclear mining on uranium[-rich] communities, that's very different, it's an entirely different problem. It's very hard to say what causes it. It's often historical and plays in with different factors, things like race, class, both class and race, zoning laws and, of course, [who has] interests in political decisions.

New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina comes to mind as affected by environmental factors and lack of appropriate policy. Are there other communities with similar issues?
I've looked at New York. A lot of it there is industrial pollution. Black and Latino child-asthma rates are almost eight times the national average. That plays into the zoning history that concentrated all these industrial developers in the same place. Asthma is just one case. I've looked at the San Diego and Tijuana area, where people are affected by trade between [the two cities] because zoning around the border can often be more lax.

Is it possible to chart who's to blame in each instance?
A lot of it has to do with very general things. In New York, again, it's an issue of zoning. It's not targeted. Decision-makers made decisions to make Manhattan less industrialized and that pushed a lot of industrialization—which usually pollutes the most—into the outer parts of the city. So how do you implicate that? It's just the law and regulations, but it's never politically calculated [to target people].

Is the problem compounded by the fact that these communities lack the resources and time to assemble?
Absolutely. It's all about resources and access to decision making. One of the slogans behind environmental justice is giving people "a place at the table." There are lots of elements to environmental justice: access to decision makers, access to legal resources and many others. It's not surprising that middle- and lower-class communities mobilize differently.

Is there a solution?
On some levels, people are very aggressive in trying to deal with this, both with regulatory framework and through legislation. California, for example, has over 20 laws that deal with environmental justice. So I wouldn't say it's a lost cause. I wouldn't want anyone to think that there's no way we can deal with any of this.

The term "environmental injustice" implies morality — that those who aren't affected have a responsibility to act and speak up for those who are. Is there a national, even global responsibility here?
Yes, I think part of the responsibility is understanding that different groups experience their world according to circumstances that are different. Even if you're not affected, you're still connected to that person.

So how can unaffected communities play a more vocal role in protecting affected communities?
In Europe, and I think this is really interesting, they have a very different fundamental approach to dealing with this. It's called the precautionary principle, which California is now also using. It basically says that instead of proving that something causes harm, you have to prove that it doesn't cause harm. That affects how things get produced and how people think about development. That's a really concrete example of how we can do better, and where we'll end up, in comparison to the Europe, if we don't.

Jacked this from newsweek.com

Are you kidding me??!!

U.S. votes against "right to food" in UN General Assembly

by Daisy Cutter

Sat Dec 20, 2008 at 06:47:21 PM PST

UN General Assembly press release:

Draft resolution XX on the right to food, approved on 24 November by a recorded vote of 180 in favour to 1 against (United States), with no abstentions, would have the Assembly reaffirm that hunger constitutes an outrage and a violation of human dignity, requiring the adoption of urgent measures at the national, regional and international level, for its elimination.

Full vote below.

• Daisy Cutter's diary :: ::
• 
  

Vote on Right to Food

The draft resolution on the right to food (document A/63/430/Add.2) was adopted by a recorded vote of 184 in favour to 1 against, with no abstentions, as follows:

In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against: United States.

Abstain: None.

Absent: Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Uganda.

"Why do they hate us?" we ask.

The real question we should be asking is: "Why do we hate them?"

Remember that the U.S. ruling class helped to cause the world food crisis. The U.S.' policy of promoting "free trade" and neoliberal reform through the IMF/World Bank is quite literally promoting starvation. Just look at what we did to Haiti. This vote seems to be a new low, as far as I can tell. Calling the "right to food" a human right in a toothless diplomatic resultion costs nothing and requires no further action. I'm not sure if this vote was motivated by free market fundamentalism or pure sadism.

Jacked this from www.dailykos.com

Black to Nature Dictionary update II

So check it. There are words out there that I use that people may not be familiar with. I am also creating new words cause I do stuff like that. I thought that I'd start my own online dictionary (blacketh to natureth stylings...you 'no won test the rocket launcher). So I'll be droppng Black (Law's) to Nature Dictionary and updates every so often. So I'll repost the last version and just keep adding words.




Biopiracy

Cocacolonization

Disneyfication

Eco-Imperialism

Ecological-Imperialism

McWords

Necrovore

Walmarting

Snow Storm Economics

For my family shoveling snow has always been a family affair. It's been that way ever since that blizzard back in '77. My siblings and myself had mini-shovels and we all went at it. Only later did I figure out that is was part of my family's ethic of 'do for self' and 'economic planning'. In the past one reason that families were large was due to the fact that in the agricultural age the larger the family, the greater land you could cultivate, the larger the harvest ie...more dough. Even in this modern model all of us shoveling kept dough in the family (no matter how small an amount). As I grew older it became only my father, my brother and myself doing it still manifesting the same above principles while at the same time starting our first degree in manhood training.

As we move through eras I noticed that there were less boys combing the street after snowfall looking to shovel people's walks. It has been kinda disheartening in that there is always this talk about economic regression and lack of jobs. And we know that the streets ain't pumping with drugs like in the 80's so alot of the inner city youth ain't hustling like that anymore. That is why I was so glad when I saw three young brothers approach my house after this latest snow storm.

Now those that knowledge me realize I hardly ever rest being active at all crazy times of the night and day. When the last snowstorm came I got stuck various places in the car and my sidewalk looked like the antarctic. I was really defeated. I live on a hill plus the drive way is encased in two walls and gathers more snow than anywhere else on the street.

They approached on the humble and asked for an amount that was WAY too little for the task. I told them don't disrespect me like that..hahha. They did an excellent job AND I contracted them for any future snow storm. Now what does the above have to do with "Black t Nature"?

*Keep it in the Hood
Employ your own. This is the start of keeping money in the neighborhood. This is one of the most effective crime deterrents (employing our own).

*Eco-conscious
Snow blowers cost gas and thus are another drain on environmental resources

*Get Familiar
Nowadays many people don't even knowledge who their neighbors are. As a youth all the elders in the neighborhood knew me and my parents. We need to follow up and do the same. How else do we expect a community to arise?

*Give accolades
Tell people they did a good job when they do good. I mean we have 1001 ways to downgrade each other yet how many times do you tell people that you appreciate the work they've done?

*Every moment is a teaching moment
Did I mention when they saw the universal flag their eyes peaked? Also had them in the house for some vegan hot chocolate Aztec style with the hot chili. It's ALWAYS about the science of everything in life.

Flicks from the blizzard of '78

Concourses to Radiant Health's winter Solistice Issue

First off, I slacked. I admit it. I was supposed to add on to the winter solstice issue of Concourses to Radiant Health and I didn't. What I must say though is that my queen sis Cy is dropping it there so get your baskets out. Absorb every morsel.

Concourses to Radiant Health's Winter Solstice Issue

Burger King..somebody snatch that crown

Back in the meat eating days of my youth I liked Burger King over McDonalds. I mean I liked the food at Mickey D's better yet Burger King always had the round the way girls working there who I could kick it to while I was waiting for 'fries to go with that shake'. Also, when I was way smaller they had fresher characters that were like right out of H.R. Pufnstuff.

Earlier in the Burger King franchise history, there was a Burger King Kingdom (a la "McDonaldLand"). It was populated with a number of interesting characters (phased out in the 1980s) that included the Burger King, of course; Sir Shakes-A-Lot (who wore a milkshake container for a hat and constantly craved milkshakes to drink); The Burger Thing (a living hamburger mounted in a picture frame who liked to sing); The Wizard of Fries (a robot with a head filled with French fries); and The Duke Of Doubt (a villainous guy who doubted the Burger King's magical abilities - "That's impossible to do!"). Once, seeing that the Burger King could create food from thin air, the Duke of Doubt asks "Make me a shake." The King happily obliges by turning the Duke into a giant milkshake. The ad campaign slogan was "Magic makes it special when your with Burger King."

With the advent of movies like 'Super Size Me' and the other of billion reports coming through on obesity in the United States one thing is clear....fast food is one of the major archdaemons of the S.tandard A.merican D.iet.

Yet beyond that there is the spector of fast food corporations being involved with environmental racism issues worldwide (like killing of the rain forest in South America to make more land for more cattle). Also, they act in fashions that are very similar to the past colonial powers..well..because they are the damn spawn of colonial powers.

One of the current things on the chopping block is the Whopper Virgins ad campaign. In a few words its just about exploiting people and wasting money. Fast food is the new colonial Bible. Teaching people how to eat the wrong foods just keeps popping up doesn't it.

And if I show up smelling like meat you already know that I've sold my soul to the devil.

Dumpster Diving

When white hipsters do it they call it freeganism. Don't get me wrong I rock with aspects of it like Food Not Bombs or Freecycle. What I have issue with though is that it makes it seems as though 'rescuing goods from trash' is the 'next new white thing'. Reality is people on the outskirts of society have long been salvaging that 'trash of opulence and gluttony'. Many look at recycling, downcyling, or upcycling as a current enviromentalist response to industrialization. The reality is that there has always been a segment of society that has taken this weight on their shoulders whether by choice or necessity.

People have been dumpster diving forever. There has always been the junk man, waste picker, or karung guni.

If YOU don't recycle that is one of the direct ways that you are posioning the planet and contributing to environmental racism. Forget the corporations and other 'big guys' that are destroying the environment. Start the journey with the look into your own nasty ass.

There is a river that runs through New Haven. It runs straight by the garbage dump. All of that mercury, sewage, etc leaking right back into the environment. Where is this dump and river located? Right in the Hill section of New Haven which is one of the central so called Latino (because lets be real..what the kcuf does Latin have to do with Boriken {so called Puerto Rico..back to the original name y'all}, Quisqueya {Hati/Dominican Republic}, Mexico-Tenochtitl {Mexico} and so on) sections of the city. And yes, it is located on the other side of the tracks.

Also, guess what, the poor people of that neighborhood fish in that river. Which of course is going to feed mercury and other toxins into their bodies. Which in turn is going to destroy the health of the community. Which in turn is a direct result of where they are forced to live in the city due to economic opportunities. That garbage dump needs to be more efficient AND needs to be located away from human habitation.

So the next time you see that 'bum' digging through the garbage that man is a freegan. He is off the grid in ways that 'revolutionaries' only 'dream' about. Look into ways that you can recycle anything from soda bottles to batteries. I'll drop some here and there as I come across them.

O.G.s (Original Greens)

So yeah. You know that I am about exposing the fact that Original People (so called people of color) are all up in this Green thing because um...WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN HERE WHO YOU THINK ORIGINATED THIS!!!

Anyway. Here is another O.G. blog.

Green L.A. girl

Starbucks be droughtin'

Because my man at Afrofuturistic Foundation always drops it so ill.






STARBUCKS was blasted by environmental experts last night after The Sun discovered it pours millions of litres of precious water down the drain at its coffee shops.


The giant coffee chain has a policy of keeping a tap running non-stop at all its 10,000 outlets worldwide, wasting 23.
4 MILLION litres a day.





That would provide enough daily water for the entire two million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia in Africa or fill an Olympic pool every 83 minutes.


Every Starbucks branch has a cold tap behind the counter providing water for a sink called a “dipper well”, used for washing spoons and utensils.



Staff are banned from turning the water off under bizarre health and safety rules — bosses claim a constant flow stops germs breeding in the taps.


Starbucks has built up a massive chain, popular with coffee drinkers from Hollywood stars to builders, and proudly boasts of its work for the environment.


But water companies accused the firm of HARMING the environment by frittering away a vital natural resource.

Claim

And the claim that running taps are needed for hygiene reasons was dismissed by experts as “nonsense”.


Starbucks has 698 branches in Britain, each open for 13 hours a day.



ASSHOLES - and/or Mother Earth Murderers!




“I could not believe it but when we contacted head office, they confirmed that the taps were left on and the water was not recycled.


“It is an absolutely astonishing waste of water, especially for a company which prides itself on its green credentials.
”

Our undercover team checked Starbucks outlets across the UK and around the world and found some baffled staff did not use the running tap and did not even know what it was for.


At Starbucks in Covent Garden, London, a worker shrugged and said: “We’ve got to keep it like that. I don’t know why.
”

In Bristol a tap was seen running full on for 15 minutes.


Similar scenes were witnessed in Derby, Nottingham, Manchester, Birmingham and Bath.


On 52nd Street New York, a tap was running the whole time our investigators were there and nothing was cleaned under it.


It was the same in Los Angeles and in Sydney, Australia.


Australia is in the grip of a seven-year drought which is the worst for a century.


Staff at one of the 50 Starbucks in Beijing, China, threatened to call cops as we photographed a running tap.


In Vienna, Austria, Starbucks staff confirmed the tap was always left running.


In Cluj, Romania — also hit by a drought — a Starbucks worker said of the tap: “We don’t know what it is. Nobody ever uses it.
”


A spokesman for UK Water, which represents water companies, was horrified by our findings.


He said: “It is wasteful and unnecessary. There is absolutely no need to keep taps running.
”

Peter Robinson, of environmental charity Waste Watch, said: “Leaving taps running all day is a shocking waste of precious water. And to claim you are doing it for health and safety reasons is bonkers.


“Tap water comes from rivers and groundwater and wasting it can cause great harm to the environment and wildlife. Big companies should set an example.
”

Jacob Tompkins, of independent water efficiency agency Water Wise, said: “If they are doing all their basic cleaning procedures, I fail to see why they would need to do this.


“There are a lot of other ways to stop a build-up of bacteria.


“The chance of a build-up in the spout is extremely remote. And if there is one they’re not cleaning the tap properly.
”

Ian Barker, head of water resources at the Environment Agency, added: “We are already taking too much water from the environment and are seeing reduced river flows.
”

6 points

Peace (yeah I say it all of the time..get familiar). I don't usually do these type of things yet my sis Cy hit me up with this thing so I'll indulge.

That's also why you've been TAGGED(!) which means you are supposed to post 6 things about yourself that people may not know, post the 6th foto from the 6th album on your pc and tag 6 more people.

1) Before I started rocking a plant-centric diet I had experienced a range of 'exotic' meats including, yet not limited to, deer, raccoon, snake, lion, ostrich, etc

2) When younger we use to play hide and go seek in an abandoned gun factory in the hood

3) My Old Earth's side of the family is known for twins (she being one herself). I know of 5 sets.

4) I've killed a black adder with a broomstick on farm slithering from a creek.

5) I've hunted with a bow and arrow

6) When I was eleven there was a robber trying to get out of our back window when we got home from church. When my father and another man went to chase him I ran to chase him to. What was I thinking.

6th pic in 6th album. Circa '79/'80. Old Dad in pic with my Old Earth (R.I.P.) holding down a feast in the home.

I gave a pound to buddha

For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
St. Matthew 24:27

It started with me just knocking dairy out of my diet then the God was breathing better. Now I find myself rocking organic Ra(sun neter/ntr get with it)food that has been fired by the sun.

I remember first experimenting with fasting learning how to discern between a need and a want. It is about merging needs and wants or being aware that one is choosing a need or want.

As transform myself and the environment around me a few have been assisting in my preparations and I gotta give a big up to them. Especially Cy who hit me with great insight how to rock a minimalist ra food style and violet who tutored me in making kombocha. As I do the bounce to the west I'll let y'all see how its done. Already i've been experiencing ra soups and its ill (meaning SO good).

Alot of my work at the moment is invested in my migration and Asiatic Light micropress which is jumping off lovely (twitter.com/asiaticlight to keep in the loop).

And on the fly I had some ill Buddha's hand citron on a salad the the other day. Oh you need a handkerchief? I see you sweatin' me.

Stay (in) tune for more.

Winter Sun (of Man)

I Know I said a month yet so many of y'all have been caaaalllling me. So I'm going to set this one back in motion. The Journal of Allah's Five Percent will be coming back in fruition soon. Meanwhile walk with me as I make this westward migration hitting a few cities on my way Westward, zen minimalist Ra foodist style.

BTW my alike Sha-King and family came through New Heaven to check the God out. We Built over ill Ra food at Catch a Healthy Habit in West Haven.

And his son, Justice dropped jewels.

Asiatic Light Publishing and Promotion (Twitter)

Peace. Just a check in. Keep up with my new endeavor by following me on twitter at twitter.com/asiaticlight. I'll build more on it when I return to the blogsphere yet until then you can keep in tune with the project there which is Asiatic Light publishing and promotion micropress. The first Green web 2.0 publishing house geared towards Original People.

Peace

Peace. I'll be on sabbatical for about 2 months. Those that know how to reach me get at me if you need me. The Blackman is God. The Blackwoman is the Earth. The babies are the greatest.

Raw Mami relocation

So I wondered where my sis the rawmami went to on the blogsphere. Turns out that she turned up reincarnated. Check out her new spot at Ravynn's Rawthentic Life. Show some love.

Green Search Engine

I jacked this from the ecogeek blog.

Web 3.0 is still a new concept, but a new search engine called Truevert wants ecogeeks to be the first to benefit from it.

Truevert, as an example of Web 3.0, utilizes smart browsing, where the search engine learns the meaning of words through context to improve searches. Truevert has learned words in a green context so that all searches are done from an environmental point of view. If you're searching for the word "solar," the engine knows you mean solar energy, not just anything having to do with the sun.

Other green search engines exist, but Truevert is different because it's not just scouring green websites; it's using the learned context to search all of the web, allowing for more thorough results.

For those of us who are constantly looking for green information, this could be a real asset and time saver.

via Treehugger

Catching up with my review of Urbangogreen

So..harvest...feast..

So if you know me you know that ever since I was 16 I fasted on Thanksgiving (Oh L yeah I'll have a crazy reflective post on the the origins of that day when it rolls around). [Back to the the Story]-{no BLACK to the story}.

I usually have a pre or post Thanksgiving harvest feast to commemorate Fall/Autumn/Harvest. (still haven't figured out if its going to be pre or post this year). I am also contemplating having the gathering in Mecca (Harlem) or Medina (Brooklyn)so my NYC folk shout out the God.

I have the menu drawn up and the recipes. It'll be a communal preparation. I got the recipes from my man rawfoodfrank. This is the first year I'm doing an all raw feast so be down,you know you want to be.

Cream of Parsnip Soup
Candied Pecans
Pomegranate Vinaigrette
Spicy Sweet Potatoes
Sprouted Wild Grass Stuffing
Walnut and Sage Gravy
Goji-cranberry sauce
Green Beans with Mustard-Almond Aioli
Perfect Pear Tart
Carob Fudge

So....

I like to take pictures of food. Some of these are dishes I made. Some are dishes I ate. It was all good though. I like the way light plays off of food showing that alot of those fruit and veggies are just bundles of encapsulated solar energy. And it tastes gud.

Environmental Justice

Power Vote

Day of the Dead..Park of the Living

So yesterday was Los Dia de los Muertos. My alike Sha-King has an interesting 5% perspective over at his blog on the day. I got my eat on a little bit yesterday with the ill raw skull cookies that my Mexica co-worker rocked out.

When I was driving the other day while at my refugee job I noticed the huge amounts of land set aside for cemeteries. I mean..huge amounts of land. It got me thinking that there aren't even parks in hood. Yet we have these acres of land set aside for dead folk.

In terms of Los Dia de los Muertos what to me is fresh is that those who celebrate it reclaim the cemetery as a public gathering place. I mean, having gatherings, food, celebration in the cemetery. It is now a FUNCTIONAL piece of land.

It started me thinking about the impact that burial has on the environment and the pumping of chemicals (embalming fluid), non decomposing caskets, etc into the Earth. So my mental went toward looking into Natural Burial. Basically there are ways to be environmentally sound when burying and have a functional landscape. Also for the entrepreneurs out there...it is a growing GREEN business so you can get in on the ground floor. Check out some of these links

The Green Burial Council

Earth Artist

Memorial Ecosystems

And yes..I still have some more urbangogreen footage to show you so stay tuned.

So did I mention that autumn is when I think about my Old Earth

I use to love autumn. I live in New England where people come from all over to see that transition. I use to know a girl whose name was autumn who was beautiful. She was from NYC going to Yale and I taught her how to drive yet I wasn't swift enough to realize that she should've been mine's and when I was ready the leaves on her tree had fallen and her hear was winter to me. Autumn is when green bleeds into orange red chakras that hum. I use to love autumn before my Old Earth returned to the essence and we lowered her physical shell into the gound on a rainy October afternoon. Before it even reaches my conscious the change in the season starts screeching against my subconscious. It seems that negative things tend to accumulate around me during autumn. My oldest brother and oldest sister returned to their essence around that time. I broke up with my ex in fall and lost my son for a moment in autumn. And one who I care for deeply I lost her in summer before fall. I still have unresolved issues from my Old Earth's return. The greatest gift that my father and mother gave me was showing me how a relationship works. It's funny that many times you work to express this to others yet due to their own experience they refuse to belive that it can exist. Through that mileage they raised us with a beautiful care that I can never thank them for. I have a heavy heart sometimes because my Old Earth didn't see me give this to my son. My father washed my Old Earth's full body in baths and showers when she couldn't do that herself. I never saw them run from each other. They only ran toward each other. Sometimes I think that loving my son is the one right thing that I've done in this life. October causes me to be an emotional wreck in so many ways and sometimes even a damn sitcom will cause me to well up. This is the first year though that I am bringing the sun (of man) into the fall. So much has gotten done. So much is getting done. And people reveal theirselves as who they are in your life via actions vs words. I wish she could see it as it unfolds.

Her name is Doris Hill Massie.

For some reason I've been having difficulty uploading all of my video from the urbangogreen function. Stay tune. I'll get it right. Meanwhile check out some flicks I took of the fall in New England, and pt I of a video of a park near my rest.

So my grandfather made moonshine

Yes, you heard it right. Down in Kentucky. It's funny cause my father, who is a minister, still can rattle off the recipes and blueprints to draw up the machines and stuff. He drops stories on me how my grandfather use to bury b ottles of it in various places in the forest and you had to remember the combination of trees to know where it was at.

This leads me to my own quirk. I hate drinking out of plastic. And I always saw a big contradiction with health heads drinking that 'spring water' out of plastic bottles (I just resolved that with myself..ain't doing that anymore). In addition to my fresh crafted bowl I have a few mason jars that I drink out of. Cause I love glass. The mason jars also reminds me of my family history from moonshine to my Old Earth making preserves before the winter time. I like that sh*t. Yeah I took the flicks.

Juice

Ihsan

Well I rocked out at the expo also. We got treated to the sol-ful singing of Ishan is the national spokes-singer for Urbangogreen. You can hear her signature song for the movement called Go Green Get Green.

I had the pleasure of having her interviewed at the event and she dropped a little about what she is doing and how she is rocking it. Check out her page at myspace.com/ihsanmusic




Ihsan Live 2003-2005

UrbanGoGreen Weekend Expo

Peace. If ya didn't know I attended the UrbanGoGreen expo this past Saturday in Mecca/Harlem. It was off the vegan meat substitute meat rack! Met alot of good people and linked up with alot of people. If you want to find out more about the urbangogreen movment check out their myspace page. I did alot of picture taking and video interviews so I'll be sharing those with you all of this week while I drop some other tidbits on you.

Taking it back to the basics in the motherland...f*ck GMO seeds


Intro into UrbanGoGreen

The Absolute Truth Vegan Series

How I get down

The end result of hanging with my friend Dayna Poon at a new Korean spot in town. An ill salad, nice smooth miso soup, juicy orange, and you can't see the empty bowl of raw Bibilbob on the side.

Green Crude

Green oil? You know I be thinking on the small scale. Are they telling me that I may be able to make this mixture myself?

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June 04, 2008

Company Produces "Green" Crude Oil and Gasoline from Algae

Sapphire Energy announced on May 28 that it has produced "green" gasoline from a synthetic crude oil made from algae. The algae yield a crude oil replacement that is literally green, and according to the company, the "green crude" meets fuel quality standards and is completely compatible with the existing petroleum infrastructure, from refinement through distribution to retail suppliers. Gasoline produced from the green crude achieved a 91 octane rating while meeting fuel quality standards. Sapphire Energy considers the achievement to be at the forefront of an entirely new industrial category, called "green crude production."

"It's hard not to get excited about algae's potential," says Paul Dickerson, chief operating officer of DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. "Its basic requirements are few: carbon dioxide, sun, and water. Algae can flourish in non-arable land or in dirty water, and when it does flourish, its potential oil yield per acre is unmatched by any other terrestrial feedstock." See the Sapphire Energy press release and its companion Web site, Green Crude Production.

In fact, the hard part about algae production is growing the algae in a controlled way and harvesting it efficiently. Most companies pursuing algae as a source of biofuels are pumping nutrient-laden water through plastic tubes (called "bioreactors") that are exposed to sunlight. On May 22, Green Star Products, Inc. announced its development of a micronutrient formula to increase the growth rate of algae. According to the company, its new formula can increase the daily growth rate by 34% and can double the amount of algae produced in one growth cycle. See the Green Star Products press release.

Jacked this from http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id=11801

By the people for the people

What you know about the People's Grocery?

Urban Go Green

I missed the joint on the 10th/11th yet I'm going to be there on the 25th. My NYC folk who wanna roll.

Also check out their site Urban Go Green

Hoard Seeds

My sis FaaTma had a tag line about hording seeds. It made me reflect on being prepared at all times. Alot of western montheistic traditions are rooted in a linear view of history with a specific 'beginning' and a specific 'end'. Thus they are hooked on the 'end times' (yeah...don't sleep on Palin and the religious right and what they will do to bring ABOUT the end time...okay...end political commentary).

Thus you have alot of people nowadays (Christian, Muslim, etc) thinking that the current economic crisis, war in the middle east, etc are all 'signs'. The wise amongst us know that these things have always happened and happen with frequency. I mean what about the great depression, WW I/WW II, the maafa, etc....don't you think all of that was viewed as 'the end of the world'. Anyway what I am getting at is that there are always 'disasters' happening and you need to be prepared at all times.

Hording seeds.

My parents are both farm folk so they always knew the science of surplus from pickling, canning, burying stuff below the frost line, etc. When Hurricane Gloria hit CT when I was young I saw all of this being made manifest as our whole city was without electricity for a week, water was scarce, and food lines were disrupted. We had ample food because my parents always had surplus in the house. It was that lesson that reminded me I needed to always be prepared.

In light of the above here is a blueprint for a 72 Hour Emergency Kit. This is just a skeleton. In the future I will offer you some green options such as a green first aid kit and general green skills you can use in survival.

72 Hour Kits
The objective of the Family 72-Hour Emergency Preparedness Kit is to have, previously assembled and placed in one location, all of those essential items you and your family will need during a 72-hour time period following an emergency. When an emergency occurs you will probably not have the luxury of going around the house gathering up needed items, especially if you have to evacuate your home on short notice.

Take time now to gather whatever your family needs to survive for three days(72 Hours) based upon the assumption that those items are the only possessions you will have. Store these kits in a closet near the front door or some other easily accessible place where they can be quickly and easily grabbed on the way out the door.

Pack all items in plastic Zip-loc type bags to keep them dry and air tight. This will prevent a liquid item from spilling and ruining other items in your kit and keep rain and other forms of moisture away from the items stored.

Keep a list of the dates when certain items need to be reviewed, especially foods, outgrown clothing and medications so that they may be properly rotated.

Emergency supplies are readily available at preparedness and military surplus stores. Fear may well be responsible for more deaths than exposure, hunger and injury combined. Realizing you have fears and that these are normal emotions in unfamiliar situation, you will be aware of them and better able to cope with them as they appear. Fears can be expected in any outdoor problem situation. Fear of the unknown and fear of your ability to cope with the situation will be foremost, along with a fear of being alone, darkness, suffering, or death. Fear is usually based on lack of self-confidence and lack of adequate preparation and experience. Knowledge and experience(practice sessions), will help to instill confidence and help to control fear.

Container
The container you choose for your kit must be waterproof, have some type of carrying handle, and must be able to be carried easily by family plastic bucket, duffel bag, trunk or footlocker, plastic garbage cans.

Water
Advised amounts of water for a kit vary. The Utah County Sheriff's office recommends a minimum of two quarts per day for each adult. However, a person can survive quite well on less, and the load of carrying six quarts of water with a pack is great. Outdoor survival course veterans agree that a two-liter bottle should be adequate. Water purification tablets or crystals need to be a part of each kit. Refer to Emergency Water Supply for treatment methods and information on portable water filters.

Food
You should include in your kit a three-day supply of non-perishable food. The food items should be compact and lightweight, in sealed packages. MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) are a good choice because they require little or no preparation. Freeze-dried foods are lightweight but require extra water in your kit. Canned goods are heavy with extra refuse. Plan nutritionally balanced meals, keeping in mind that this is a survival kit. Include vitamins or other supplements, if desired.

Possible foods for a kit might include:
· MRE's · snack crackers · hard candy · dried fruits · instant oatmeal · powdered milk · jerky · bouillon cubes · raisins/nuts · instant rice/potatoes · dried soups · gum · granola bars · instant pudding · powdered drink mixes

Also include a mess kit or other compact equipment for cooking and eating. A can opener may also be useful.

Shelter
The objective of shelter is to provide emergency housing. It is extremely important to be physically protected from nature's weather elements. There are many types of shelter that can be easily included in your 72-hour kit. You may want to consider family tent, backpacker's tent, tube tent, rain poncho, garbage bags, nylon rope or cord, duct tape, space blanket and space sleeping bag.

Bedding
· Bedding should be warm, lightweight, comfortable, waterproof and compact. · Sleeping bag (2 1/2 pound hollow-fill) · Insulation. Under your sleeping bag you will need some insulation to protect you from the cold ground. Though foam pads are generally thought of as an item of comfort, their true importance is in insulating you from the ground. The best types are "closed cell" foam pads about 3/8 of an inch in thickness. They are very light weight and easily attached to the backpack for carrying. You may also use a poncho, plastic ground cloth, newspapers, leaves, or pine boughs, for insulation but they are not nearly as effective as the closed cell foam pads.

· Blankets can be used to make a bed roll but generally they are not as comfortable nor as warm as a sleeping bag. Wool blankets are the best since they retain their warming ability even when wet. However, blankets are very heavy and bulky.

· Space blanket or bag. As explained in the previous section space blankets and space bags (aluminum coated mylar) are very efficient at retaining body heat and are a must for every 72-hour kit. Even when used by themselves, without the added benefit of a sleeping bag they will keep you warm during the night. In cold winter weather they may not be entirely comfortable but they will probably keep you warm enough to keep you alive. Being plastic, however, they are impervious to moisture. This is good for keeping out rain but they also retain sweat and condensation from your breath. you may find that periodically during the night you will have to air them out in order to sleep comfortably. They can also be used during the day to protect from rain, sun and to retain body warmth.

Clothing
Include in your kit one change of clothing and footwear, preferable work clothing. Anticipate severe weather conditions. If you have a growing family remember to update clothing sizes and needs at least once a year. Try to avoid wearing cotton clothing. Tight cotton clothing holds water next to the skin. Wet inner clothing causes freezing. Cotton clothing "wicks" (draws water up the very small individual fibers), thus retaining water and spreading it over the entire body, causing loss of body heat at an ever greater rate. Wool clothing is best. Wool is a natural thermostatic insulator that keeps you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Wool is naturally durable and can withstand rugged and tough wear. Wool also repels water and has the unique property of keeping the body warm even if it does get wet. Wool dries from the inside out and does not "wick." Include two pairs of wool socks- one pair for wearing and one for keeping your feet warm while sleeping.

Fuel
Every family member should have fire starting materials and know how to start a fire. Several of these items should be assembled into a kit and labeled as "fire starting kit." Teach all family members how to use them and let them practice building fires with all methods until they feel totally confident with their ability to do so. Even little children aged five or six can be safely instructed in correct fire building techniques under proper supervision. Then if an emergency arises, they will not panic or feel overwhelmed or frightened at the prospect of building a fire for their warmth and protection.

Some different sources are:
· Matches. Carry at least two dozen wooden kitchen matches that have been either dipped in wax or nail polish to make them waterproof or carry them in a waterproof container.
· Metal match. Waterproof, fireproof, durable, and non-toxic. Will light thousands of fires. Available at sporting goods stores.
· Butane lighters, such as Bic cigarette lighters, are excellent ways to light a fire.
· Magnesium fire starters are good for starting fires with wet or damp wood. Shave magnesium shavings off of a magnesium block with a pocket knife and then strike a spark from a flint starter with a pocket knife. Magnesium burns exceptionally hot and will ignite almost any combustible material. Works even when wet and can be purchased at most sporting goods stores.
· Small magnifying glass. Use to concentrate sunlight onto paper, shredded bark or other tinder.
· Flint and steel A spark from flint and steel (such as an empty cigarette lighter or flint and steel striking bar), when directed at dry paper (especially toilet tissue), shredded bark, dry grass or other tinder, if persisted in patiently will work very well to start a fire. This is the most reliable "non-match" method of starting a fire.
· Commercial fire starter kits. These come in a variety of styles and fuels.
· Steel wool. Fine steel wool (used for scrubbing pots and pans- but not Brillo pads or other types that have soap already impregnated into them) can be used for tinder. Hold two "D" flashlight cells together in one hand (or one 9-volt transistor radio battery) while touching one end of a clump of steel wool to the positive end of the battery and the other end of the steel wool to the negative end of the battery. The current causes the steel wool fibers to incandesce and then produce a flame. It burns very hot and fairly fast so have lots of other tinder to burn once the steel wool ignites.
· Candles can be used for warmth, light, and starting fires. To start a fire simply cut a piece of candle about 1/2 inch in length and place it on top of the tinder. When lit the wax witl run over the tinder making it act as a wick and ignite. You can also place small twigs and other easily burnable materials directly into the fame to build a fire.
· Car Battery. If you are near your car you can easily put sparks into tinder by attaching any wires to the battery posts and scraping the ends together in the tinder.
· Sterno fuel and stoves make an excellent cooking fuel when backpacking or in emergencies. Sterno can be lit with a match or by a spark from flint and steel. Slivers of gelled sterno can be cut from the can and placed on top of tinder and lit with flint and steel or with a match. It burns hot enough to ignite even damp tinder.
· Cotton balls and gauze from the first aid kit make excellent tinder and can be ignited with sparks or with matches.
· Fuel tablets such as tri-oxane and gelled fuels store well and ignite quickly and easily. Some can be fairly expensive, however.
· Butane and propane stoves. These are made especially for backpackers. The fuel is cheaper than sterno, it burns hotter and it heats better in windy situations than other fuels. Propane, however is more difficult to light as outside temperatures near zero.

First Aid Kit
Update your first aid skills. Keep your first aid kit well supplied. Suggested first-aid supplies for 72-hour kit:
· first aid book · waterproof container · assortment of band-aids · gauze pads · butterfly bandages · cotton balls · small roll of gauze · adhesive tape · cotton swabs (Q-Tips) · safety pins · Pepto-bismol tablets · antacid tablets (good for bee sting) · cold pack · consecrated oil · hydrogen peroxide · alcohol (disinfectants) · smelling salts · medicine dropper tweezers · alcohol wipes · Benadryl capsules · aspirin (promotes healing of burns) · Tylenol (chewable for children) · collapsible scissors · thermometer · crushable heat pack · special prescriptions or equipment · small tube or packets antiseptic cream · ointment · small spool thread/two needles

Miscellaneous
Some other miscellaneous items that may be very helpful are: · light stick · small flashlight · extra batteries · pocket handwarmer · compact fishing kit · compass · pocketknife · 50 ft. nylon cord · plastic poncho · garbage bag · paper or cards · pen, pencil · fine wire · extra plastic bags · small scriptures · favorite songs · small game, toy, etc. · spare glasses · money (small bills and change) · field glasses · toothbrush/toothpaste · metal mirror · comb · razor · pre-moistened wipes · toilet paper · feminine products · sunscreen · soap · lip balm with sunscreen · bandana (may be used for hat, washcloth, mask, sling, tourniquet) · tube soap, bar soap, waterless soap · identification/medical permission card · special blanket or such for little people · portable radio with extra batteries

Family Information Record
In addition to emergency survival supplies you should also collect vital family information. Record and keep it in at least two safe places-a fire resistant "get-away" box that you can take with you if you have to leave the home, and a safe-deposit box at your bank or credit union.

The following items would be useful for you to record and keep in these two locations:
· Genealogy records · Full name and social security numbers of all family members · Listing of vehicles, boats etc. with identification and license numbers · Listing of all charge account card numbers and expiration dates, bank account numbers (both checking and saving), insurance policy numbers, securities, deeds, and loan numbers showing the company name, address and telephone numbers.

· Name, address, and telephone number for each of the following:
Ø employer Ø schools Ø fire/paramedics Ø family contacts Ø utility company Ø police Ø doctor Ø hospital Ø attorney Ø civil defense · Location of important documents Ø insurance policies Ø deeds Ø securities Ø licenses Ø loans Ø will Ø safe-deposit box key Ø vehicle titles (pink slips) Ø birth/death certificates Ø social security I.D. cards Ø citizenship papers Ø letter of instruction Ø tax returns (last 5 years)

Infants
When assembling items for your 72-hour kit be sure to include all necessary items for infants. It would be a good idea to include a separate back pack or other container that holds nothing but infant supplies (which can be surprisingly voluminous). This kit should be kept with the kits of other family members so that it will not be forgotten in a moment of haste. As the baby begins to grow, replace clothing and diapers with the next larger size.

Car Mini-Survival Kit
Your car is frequently your home away from home. most of us spend many hours in our cars each month. Anything from a jammed-up freeway to a major disaster could force you to rely on your car for short-term shelter and survival. It is a wise practice to keep simple provision for emergencies in your car. A self-made cold-weather car kit, as described in some preparedness stores, is also good to keep in the car.

At-Work Survival Kit
Many persons stand a 40 percent chance of being at work when an earthquake or other emergency strikes. A mini-survival kit kept at your place of work could make the hours until you are able to get home more comfortable and safer. This kit could be a duplicate of the car mini-survival kit.

Jacked from http://www.oism.org/ddp/72hour.pdf