Archive for April, 2006

Doctor Bush

Folks in the States,
I understand gas prices are high, but you must realize you’re now paying what the world has been paying for years. There is a reason why, like an Israeli said to me the other day, Americans drive such big cars. There’s also a reason why we have such big homes, why we lead the world in energy consumption. Why? Because oil has been so cheap for so long.
Did you know the profits for Exxon/Mobil this year were the highest ever? Did you know their profits are close to the GDP of most OPEC countries? This is profit.
Bush just made the policitical announcement that he would start an investigation. Haven’t we heard this before? He also decided to drop environmental regulations to help ease the gas prices. Perfect sollution.
Read here what Bush’s plan really means.

Earth Day

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read over this list of 10 things everyone can do to save money and the Earth. It’s Earth Day and a crucial point for you to take the next step towards a cleaner lifestyle.
Worldwatch has put together this brilliant and easy to follow document with a ton of great links to help you accomplish your Earth-saving tasks. Have a look.
After browsing and maybe doing some of the things on the list, please comment about something you did or something you found that was interesting or suprisingly easy to change in your life.

Caged Birds


Caging a bird may be one of the cruelest byproducts of man’s natural curiosity. It’s wings, a gift most humans have spent nightly hours fantasizing about, are clipped and put to rest. Their flightless bodies are left numbed by the closeness of captivity and dazed by unpardonable punishment. Their cries sound pretty, their movements cute.
If humans had wings would we erect nets around country borders? Would we have “no fly” zones for illegal aliens? Or would we all be able to glide freely over the globe in order to see it in all its glory?
We have no wings. Our feet tread on the soil birds look gracefully down on. This soil hides borders. These borders are the invisible, or omnipresent, truths that keep our worldly oppressors sweating every night at the drawing boards of the global map.
This photograph was taken at a section of the Wall surrounding parts of the West Bank.
The Wall has made me think a lot about the idea of borders, boundaries and who owns land. The idea of personal ownership of property seems imbedded in the “democratic” rights, which seem to define the US and the West. But who in the end has the rights to the land?

On a Diet


This unfinished home sits in a ghostly section of Beit La’ham, Bethlehem, or House of the Lamb. This town is on a diet and has been for years.
After Palestinians cast their votes for their next leader the world turned their back. Funny how political discourse can be so easy-come-easy-go.
The Israelis took their power of the Palestinians to another level after the elections. They’ve been toying with these people like wooden puppets for so long now it’s beginning to seem normal. This is when life scares me. When such awful things become normal, humans take a step back in evolution, or maybe we’re not evolving at all.
When the Israelis heard of Hamas winning the elections they said they would just have to put the Palestinians “on a diet.” Just like that. Diet time!
Milk was hard to find in Gaza. Tax money owed to the Palestinian people is controlled and now being kept by the Israelis. Towns die slowly. People lose hope.