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GAY = SIN from Matthew Brown on Vimeo.
Matthew Brown has made a video which he shares on Vimeo, looking at how some people are so thoroughly opposed to the ‘gay lifestyle’ – which I interpret simply as opposition to the fact that gay people exist – that they feel compelled to share their distain for others in a as public a forum as is possible. He overlays critical audio over images captured of friends sharing special times together. The sounds so awfully contrast with the clement, benign and thoroughly gregarious nature of the images portrayed – pictures that could not be further from the audio that accompanies them. The result is artistic and thought provoking, as well as not just a little bit beautiful.
Check out the video link for an High Definition version which, through its clarity, renders the images yet more poignant and meaningfull.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I’ve been reading quite a few pieces and obituaries about Anita Roddick, the maverick founder of retail chain The Body Shop. She died this week aged 64 of a brain haemorrhage. It seems to me that many people were surprised by her death. I’ve been struck by, and deeply moved by the outpourings of admiration from some of the most impressive people one could hope to know, all of whom are writing of their profound respect for a woman who, at the most basic level, sold soaps, moisturisers and shampoos. She hadn’t been in the news quite as much of late as she once was, but her presence in the UK and world retail conscience was undiminished because the activities of The Body Shop continued to push the ideals that she had always espoused. She was a colourful figure through her determination that one doesn’t have to sacrifice moral standpoints to be a successful businessperson. Her campaigning and her use of The Body Shop as a campaign tool has meant we as a society have recognised and adopted causes never before addressed.

When she began her store the western world was largely indifferent to or unaware of the causes of rainforest destruction, cosmetics animal testing, third-world exploitation, fairtrade and the homeless. Besides making money, her business served as one of the greatest political billboards the world has ever known, broadcasting its views based on our collective moral responsibility. Who, at the time, would have thought that a shop window could be so much more effective and persuasive than the pulpit or the stage? What religious leaders and green-politicians have been so long been trying to emphasize, The Body Shop’s marketing gurus were able to push home through the small-print of millions upon millions of product labels. The value of her campaigning, and the degree to which the Body Shop ethos has been adopted by popular culture is shown by the chain’s 2006 sale to L’Oreal. Being an ethical consumer is now equated with being a good consumer and citizen rather than being equated with being a radical lefty. Now, everyone understands the necessity of fair trade and care for the environment. As Alice Miles put it in The Times yesterday, ‘She was using moisturiser to talk about human rights, and animal testing, and the environment. Moisturiser wasn’t just a cream, it was politics… and it was big business.’.

May we only hope we can live up to her achievements and, in our lifetimes, work for similarly virtuous goals.

Dame Anita Roddick, entrepreneur and activist, born October 23 1942; died September 10 2007. RIP

Independent: Obituary: Dame Anita Roddick
Independent: Anita Roddick, capitalist with a conscience, dies at 64
NYT: Anita Roddick, Body Shop Founder, Dies at 64
GU: Roddick’s legacy: idealism and the smell of dewberries
GU: Anita Roddick, pioneer whose dreams turned the high street green, dies at 64
GU: Obituary: Dame Anita Roddick
GU Comment is Free: Adieu, Dame Anita
GU Comment is Free: One of Anita Roddick’s greatest achievements was recognising that beauty is an ugly business
Times Online: Anita Roddick’s ruse: it wasn’t the moisturiser after all

Popularity: unranked [?]

For $1.3 million a year, Larry Page and Sergey Brin get to park their customized wide-body Boeing 767-200, as well as two other jets used by top Google executives, on Moffett Field, an airport run by NASA that is generally closed to private aircraft. Moffett Field is nearly adjacent to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., and the four-mile drive between the two locations takes just seven minutes, according to Google Maps. Other Silicon Valley executives have to fight traffic to get to their large jets parked…even farther away.

NYT: For Google’s Founders, a Coveted Landing Strip

Popularity: unranked [?]

Researchers in Connecticut said that global warming has led to a massive decline in the lobster population of the Long Island Sound; however, if the polar ice caps melt and sea levels rise 30 feet, colder water might bring the lobsters back.

see: The Stamford Advocate | CTV.ca

via Harpers Weekly Review 11-04-2006
Harpers Weekly Review

Popularity: unranked [?]

After reading a Wired News article about deep-sea diving, I was intrigued by the Pacific Sleeper Shark. I’ve never heard of it before and it sounds kind of nifty. Supposedly one of the great ocean predators:

Very little is known of sleeper shark life history. Age and size at maturity are unknown. They are thought to be ovovivparous (produce eggs that hatch within the females body), but gestation time and litter size has not been determined. Despite its sluggish and inoffensive reputation, they are voracious and versatile predators. The stomach contents of one 12 foot (3.7m) female weighed 300 pounds (136kg) and consisted of mostly rex and Dover soles. Another sleeper shark stomach contained 3 hair seals. Their diet also includes flatfish; halibut, soles, salmon, and rockfish. Other prey includes octopus & squids, crabs, and carrion (Hart 1973). In the picture below is a chunk of harbor seal skin and attached tissue recovered from the stomach of a Pacific sleeper shark.”

Conservation Institute
Arctic Science Journeys
Google search: Pacific Sleeper Shark

Popularity: unranked [?]

“I just learned that Alaska is expanding its aerial wolf shoots and will allow 900 wolves to be slaughtered by trophy hunters and to keep elk populations “healthy”. OUTRAGEOUS!

Please sign the petition to the governor of Alaska:

Defenders of Wildlife

“The “reasoning” behind Alaska’s reinstated aerial wolf kill program, according to the governor and his board of game, is that McGrath residents (population 470) are going hungry – the area’s wolves, supposedly, are gobbling up moose before townspeople have had a chance to kill and eat them themselves. Aside from the ethical considerations concerning this viewpoint, that humans, as a “superior” species must put their own convenience and needs before that of animals in their area – animals that existed in that area long before man and, according to the laws of nature, kill and eat only to survive – let’s look closely at the other facts. Let’s even pretend for a moment there is nothing wrong with this human-centric outlook. Is the current aerial wolf “control” program merely about eliminating 45 or so McGrath area wolves? What’s all the fuss really about?”

– Kerkwood Wolf.com link

IMAGE from portland indymedia
Simone

Save the wolves – read some of the links and find out for yourself. The issue is whether we value our diversity in nature or whether humans should force themselves upon their surrounding habitat no matter how inhospitable it may be. If we can’t even create our own food in an area, should we even be there? Whatever your respons, aerial hunting is morally corrupt and an abomination to be halted.

CNN 5th Nov
Environment News Service
What it looks like

Popularity: unranked [?]