One of the mantras of (post)modern times has been “progress”. We might totally wipe out entire species, but nothing should stand in the way of the machine of change.

Without revealing my closet geek status as a total Frank Hebert fan- I can’t help but think we are all bound for still-suits and recycled pee drinking in the near future after reading this interview at Salon.

Did you know it takes 650 gallons of water to make a pound of cheddar cheese? Or that enough water evaporates from Lake Nasser every year to hydrate the entire UK?

So enviro-geeks, what’s your take?

So the powers that B currently argue about replacing the highway equivalent to the Kingdome: the Alask Way Viaduct. The state says: we’ll give you money, but only if you promise to replace it with a road of the same or greater capacity. But is this wise? Should we encourage more traffic or less? Should we construct another $millions/mile stretch of road that promotes air and water pollution (through ever-increasing toxic storm water runoff)? One that would further block views of the water?

Shouldn’t we have enough knowledge and courage to determine that building more roads does not solve the problem of demand? Is rebuilding the viaduct, even one that is a tunnel, just more of the same? Or will we suffer without one?

Your thoughts?

From Zbigniew Brzezinski

Why we whould not attack Iran:

But there are four compelling reasons against a preventive air attack on
Iranian nuclear facilities:

1. In the absence of an imminent threat (with the Iranians at least several
years away from having a nuclear arsenal), the attack would be a unilateral
act of war.If undertaken without formal Congressional declaration, it would
be unconstitutional and merit the impeachment of the President. Similarly,
if undertaken without the sanction of the UN Security Council either alone
by the United States or in complicity with Israel, it would stamp the
perpetrator(s) as an international outlaw(s).

2. Likely Iranian reactions would significantly compound ongoing U.S.
difficulties in Iraq and in Afghanistan, perhaps precipitate new violence by
Hezbollah in Lebanon, and in all probability cause the United States to
becomebogged down in regional violence for a decade or more to come. Iran
is a country of some 70 million people and a conflict with it would make the
misadventure in Iraq look trivial.

3. Oil prices would climb steeply, especially if the Iranians cut their
production and seek to disrupt the flow of oil from the nearby Saudi oil
fields. The world economy would be severely impacted, with America blamed
for it. Note that oil prices have already shot above $70 per barrel, in part
because of fears of a U.S./Iran clash.

4. America would become an even more likely target of terrorism, with much
of the world concluding that America’s support for Israel is itself a major
cause of the rise in terrorism. America would become more isolated and thus
more vulnerable while prospects for an eventual regional accommodation
between Israel and its neighbors would be ever more remote.

And what we should do instead:

The United States should become a direct participant in the negotiations,
joining the three European negotiating states, as well as perhaps Russia and
China (both veto-casting UN Security Council members), in direct negotiations
with Iran, on the model of the concurrent multilateral talks with North Korea;As
in the case of North Korea, the United States should also simultaneously engage
in bilateral talks with Iran regarding mutually contentious security and
financial issues;

The United States should be a signatory party to any quid-pro-quo
arrangements in the event of a satisfactory resolution of the Iranian nuclear
program and of regional security issues.At some point in the future, the above
could perhaps lead to a regional agreement for a nuclear weapons-free zone in
the Middle East, especially after the conclusion of an Israeli-Palestinian peace
agreement, endorsed also by all the Arab states of the region. At this stage,
however, it would be premature to inject that complicated issue into the
negotiating process with Iran.

The choice is either to be stampeded into a reckless adventure profoundly
damaging to long-term U.S. national interests or to become serious about giving
negotiations with Iran a genuine chance to be productive. The mullahs were on
the skids several years ago but were given a new burst of life by the
intensifying confrontation with the United States.

The U.S. strategic goal, pursued by real negotiations and not by posturing,
should be to separate Iranian nationalism from religious fundamentalism.
Treating Iran with respect and within a historical perspective would help to
advance that objective.

There is hope after all! Those 51% of red-staters that we have been mocking for the last few years may have finally seen the error of their ways.

Maybe if we promised to forgive them for being idiots and stopped teasing them for being dumber than a sack o’hair the trend will keep up until midterm elections. Or maybe it’s the mocking that is doing the trick.

In the last year I have taken up the oh-so bourgie sport of tennis. Not just taken up- but become addicted to the thwack of my racquet on a little green ball (no snickering allowed from the peanut gallery about my love of smacking around balls-really.)

Mephistopheles (the brave boy that he is) and I are taking lessons together from a little French guy who likes to address my breasts. Last Saturday most of the class ditched, so there were only 4 of us and the devil was the only boy. Tennis is great because it is one of the few sports where women can compete with men (remember Billy Jean King anyone?) and it is the women who are the current superstars- though I salivate over James Blake.

Then I read this:

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) Wimbledon remains the only Grand Slam tournament that pays the men’s champion more than the women’s winner.
The All England Club announced Tuesday that the men’s winner this year will receive $1.170 million and the women’s champion $1.117 million, a difference of $53,000. It’s a four percent increase in British currency. The French Open announced earlier this month that it would pay the men’s and women’s champions the same amount for the first time, although the overall prize fund is bigger for the men. The two other Grand Slam tournaments,the Australian and U.S. Opens, have paid equal prize money for years.

So why is it that Wimbledon is one of the last tennis events to pay men and women so unevenly? To read their convoluted reasoning and a damn fine analysis go check out Zuzu’s post at Feministe.

Via The Stranger Suggests

Intelligent Design vs. Evolution
(DEBATE) You live in the Seattle metropolitan area, and so do the wily creationists at the Discovery Institute. If you’d like to show the world that the city of Seattle doesn’t stand for intellectual bankruptcy, you should start by familiarizing yourself with ID’s lunatic (but sophisticated) ideas. Stephen Meyer of the Discovery Institute’s anti-science branch debates Peter Ward, a UW professor of geological science. Bring signs! (Town Hall Seattle, 1119 Eighth Ave, 652-4255. 7:30 pm, $5.)

Totally swiped from Shakespeare’s Sister. If this works I’m sending homemade cookies to everyone of the state senators that votes for it.

“The Illinois General Assembly is about to rock the nation. Members of state legislatures are normally not considered as having the ability to decide issues with a massive impact to the nation as a whole. Representative Karen A. Yarbrough of Illinois’ 7th District is about to shatter that perception forever. Representative Yarbrough stumbled on a little known and never utilized rule of the US House of Representatives, Section 603 of Jefferson’s Manual of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives, which allows federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state legislature. From there, Illinois House Joint Resolution 125 (hereafter to be referred to as HJR0125) was born.”

“Detailing five specific charges against President Bush including one that is specified to be a felony, the complete text of HJR0125 is copied below at the end of this article. One of the interesting points is that one of the items, the one specified as a felony, that the NSA was directed by the President to spy on American citizens without warrant, is not in dispute. That fact should prove an interesting dilemma for a Republican controlled US House that clearly is not only loathe to initiate impeachment proceedings, but does not even want to thoroughly investigate any of the five items brought up by the Illinois Assembly as high crimes and/or misdemeanors. Should HJR0125 be passed by the Illinois General Assembly, the US House will be forced by House Rules to take up the issue of impeachment as a privileged bill, meaning it will take precedence over other House business.”

Yesterday, Mephistopheles, The Kid, and I went and saw the Cornish School’s comedic production of Hamlet at Volunteer Park. For the outrageous price of Nothing (besides the picnic goodies we picked up on the way) we spent the afternoon lounging in the sunlit grass laughing our asses off at family betrayal and excessive violence.

It was fabulous. Hamlet is an angry teenager and the uncle is one of the hottest little despots ever. Oh and the Shakespeare tradition of cross-dressing is definitely alive and well. Since they are putting on 2 more shows next weekend (Saturday and Sunday at 3:30 pm) I thought I would recommend it to you all.

Mr Crude is an old friend of mine with a background in some science-y thing involving oceans (Forgive me for not being more specific- he can detail as much as he likes)

Also Welcome HotLoveJoy who has been shadowing posts so far. Hopefully this little public call out will prompt her to post as well. (Come on Chicky- we need more girls posting. Wonder and I can’t counteract the patriarchy all on our own)

Kisses Darlings!