Sunday, December 06, 2009

How to Celebrate a Low Impact Big Apple Holiday

Posted by Mickey Z on 12/06 at 10:26 AM
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  1. You can save a few trees by just emailing holiday cards. Mr. Z should the poem give a slight nod to Dick Gregory? 36 degees down here in FL this mornin’... Watch your plastics, see:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/opinion/06kristof.html

    Posted by Bob T. from Archer,FL  on  12/06  at  10:54 AM

  2. Did Dick Gregory say that, Bob? I know it couldn’t be original but I didn’t have a source.

    Chilly here in NYC, too...but sunny enough to make it a nice December day.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  12/06  at  10:59 AM

  3. Reading the first article I was happy to see volunteering as an option for a kind of staycation.

    One of my biggest influences growing up was the family of a friend, Joe. His folks were radical, vegetarians and politically active. My attention was first grabbed when we were just 11 and Joe told me that for his holiday they had been to Moscow (this is ‘83).

    The biggest revelation though was how one summer a couple of years later, Joe and his brother went to Italy for holiday - to volunteer in rebuilding a storm damaged monastery and tree planting around it.

    I was blown away by the idea (which is still radical in general society) that when you get some time - you help other people and volunteer.

    I’m not in New York, but I’m sure that every major city has these opportunities if you look for them.

    How about an activism break? Go on holiday to a nearby protest hotspot, like the site of proposed development etc. I’m sure there are plenty nearby.

    Posted by Andy from shanghai  on  12/06  at  11:00 AM

  4. An “activism” break might just be a full article on its own, Andy.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  12/06  at  11:01 AM

  5. Good to see you tackling GMOs.  No surprise to know that Obama is pro-GMO.  He made a speech during the election which I read once and haven’t been able to find again, but he went on about how safe they were.  Then, of course, there are all his cabinet appointments, like Michael Taylor to the FDA, who used to work for Monsanto.

    Anyway, Obama’s a dick.  That’s all I’m saying.  But you knew that already. 

    I’m surprised you didn’t mention the free ice skating at Bryant Park for your low impact Big Apple holiday.  Eh, they probably don’t need the press.

    Posted by Charles from Jersey City  on  12/06  at  11:22 AM

  6. I think I could write 5 posts a day just about NYC and still leave out 75% of what you can do here.

    Quote of the day:

    Obama’s a dick. That’s all I’m saying.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  12/06  at  11:43 AM

  7. I just pure loath the logic that came with Obama’s surge speech. Like all war mongers before him, he followed the announcement of a surge by saying it would lead to withdrawl.

    What a crock. We need to kill more people in order to stop killing them.

    I also hate the whole Iraq thing of, we have to stay in in order to keep stability, if we withdraw now it will be chaos. Of course, Saddam was a bad guy, but he has nothing on the USA-UK when it comes to sh*tting on Iraq. We caused the chaos.

    Rant rant.

    I dunno, why do so many ‘liberal’ or ‘progressive’ people bang on about how intelligent Obama is when he’s bailing out banks and dishing out the same war rhetoric as Bush.

    What’s the standard for being considered intelligent these days? Seems to be speaking in public without mis-pronouncing words.

    Posted by Andy from shanghai  on  12/06  at  11:59 AM

  8. Oh but Andy, he’s better than Bush.  He’s doing his best.  He’s closing Guantanamo isn’t he?

    A dick indeed.  A total fucking disgrace.  How can Obama look himself in the mirror? 

    After Obama’s troop surge/withdrawal speech, Robert Gates spoke to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and said that there are “no deadlines in terms of when our troops will all be out.” He then added that when the process of withdrawal starts, expect it to take 2-3 years. 

    Thanks for the GMO article Mickey.  Fortunately, this is one area where grassroots activism has recently paid off south of the border.  With Judge Breyer’s historic ruling on alfafa, the recent ruling against sugar beets, and the phasing out of rbgh, it looks like there is a building anti-GMO lobby in America.  I wish the same was true up here.  5-10 percent of our sugar now comes from GM sugar beets.  I don’t eat conventional sugar, but if GM sugar beets proliferate it could really screw anybody trying to save beet or swiss chard seed. 

    A beauty day in the Cariboo.

    Posted by Mike from Cariboo  on  12/06  at  12:31 PM

  9. Hi Bob, Mike, Andy, Mickey, Charles, and all…

    I voted. I like the idea of volunteering. One thing that I try to do is to go into a nursing home (any nursing home) and ask to visit anyone who does not often have visitors.  It is a symptom of our sick culture that so many people are ‘thrown away’. There was an article in the paper last week about the increasing number of the dead who have no one to claim their bodies. “Bowling Alone” was the book. Dying alone is the reality.

    Captcha sez ‘short’. Is someone peeking through my computer?

    We have our first shovelable snow.  I don’t like snow but must admit that seeing it in the trees last night was a real experience - just beautiful. My computer desk is on the second floor facing a window. Right now the top of the apple tree looks like it has hundreds of giant cotton balls stuck in the branches.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  12/06  at  01:51 PM

  10. Hello Mike and RMJ. Chilly here but not too cold.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  12/06  at  04:38 PM

  11. Chilly in NYC but sunny in Daylesford:  about 75F today. 

    Hello, Bob T., Mickey, Andy, Charles, Mike and Rosemarie - and thanks for all those interesting posts on what one can do in New York.  Too bad many tourists do not seem to venture out of Manhattan - however, I have always wanted to visit Brooklyn, Staten Island and the other two boroughs as well, even if only for a day.  And I have got the New York City 5-Borough Pocket Atlas to prove it.

    Bye for now from down under.

    Posted by Helga Fremlin from Daylesford, Australia  on  12/06  at  07:51 PM

  12. I Don’t Feel Tardy Dept: yes, MZ, it’s Chris Hedges’ “Empire of Illusion.” I’m enjoying the chapter about the vacuous education of elites. Had a window into that world, once.

    I second the quote of the day. But I would have added more, um, adjectives. On a so-called liberal site I was reading some of the excuses for Peace ‘n’ Hope’s escalation. A recurring theme was “We have to try.” If the Republicans all disappeared tomorrow, liberals could still destroy the world without breaking sweat.

    It’s chilly out here, but that’s not so bad. In the mid-30’s, the cold and moisture go right through you. Below freezing that lightens up some. Gotta get a few shots of the Cascades and Olympics - very impressive with snow on top.

    Posted by Zen Prole from Pac NW  on  12/06  at  11:14 PM

  13. Thanks, Zen. Hedges’ chapter on porn was powerful, too.

    Btw, a new post is up. See you all there.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  12/07  at  05:16 AM

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