Brian Johnson

ZaadzBlog Rocks

2005-12-22T21:10:00.000-08:00

All future blog posts will go to my Zaadz Blog.

Woo

to the

Hoo!!!

And, here's WHY I'm so fired about peeps blogging via ZaadzBlogz!

Zaadz Blog Post #2

2005-12-20T23:57:00.000-08:00

I hart my job.

Thoughts on our change-world-strategy.

Holy smokes, Batman! My first Zaadz Blog post!!

2005-12-20T21:33:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo!!!

Here she is...

The very first blog post on Zaadz. The tool's simple at this stage...but OMIGOD...sweet.

Vanishing difficulties

2005-12-20T01:14:00.000-08:00

"It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly."
~ Isaac Asimov, author

(Cross your fingers...if all goes well this will be one of my last blog posts here...ZaadzBlog is almost here! Woo hoo!! :)

Thanks, coolmel

2005-12-19T18:48:00.000-08:00

Zaadz: It's Dutch for "seed"

Thanks for the shout out, sir coolmel. Check out his great blog. Funny shit.

(Apparently I'm "fluffier than fluff." Hah. Not entirely sure what that means, but we'll roll with it. :)

The Ass and His Purchaser

2005-12-19T12:33:00.000-08:00

"A MAN wished to purchase an Ass, and agreed with its owner that he should try out the animal before he bought him. He took the Ass home and put him in the straw-yard with his other Asses, upon which the new animal left all the others and at once joined the one that was most idle and the greatest eater of them all. Seeing this, the man put a halter on him and led him back to his owner. On being asked how, in so short a time, he could have made a trial of him, he answered, I do not need a trial; I know that he will be just the same as the one he chose for his companion. A man is known by the company he keeps."
~Aesop~

Bono Rocks. So do the Gateses

2005-12-18T10:10:00.000-08:00

Updated: 12:38 p.m. ET Dec. 18, 2005

NEW YORK - The richest man in the world, Bill Gates, and his wife, Melinda, were named Time magazine’s “Persons of the Year” along with Irish rocker Bono for being “Good Samaritans” who made a difference in different ways.

“For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are Time’s Persons of the Year,” the magazine said in its Dec. 19 issue, made public on Sunday.

Thanks, Vince!

2005-12-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the shout out, Vince.

Very cool.

-bri

Mind Map of Spril Dynamics

2005-12-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

Mind Map of Spril Dynamics

If you're looking for a cool intro to Spiral Dynamics mind-map style, there ya go!

(thanks for the tip, Ryan! Ryan (ryan.zaadz.com) 's one of our awesome new code poets at Zaadz, btw. And, say "hi" to Josh our other new addition while you're there! These guys rock. Gotta love conscious, vegan web developers who kick ass. :) )

Vote for my buddy Kelly for entrepreneur of the year

2005-12-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

So my friend Kelly Perdew is in a competition to win entrepreneur of the year.

Help him out by voting here!

He's a brilliant guy. If you happened to watch The Apprentice II then you saw some of his magic.

KP Worldwide (as he's affectionately known to me and our friends :) and I worked together when I was getting my first company, eteamz, off the ground. We hired him as our head of biz dev and he was my right hand guy doing all kinds of stuff for the company--and he was a huge part of our successful sale of my first business. Stud.

Fun fun fun.

Go KP!!!

Oh yah, here's a sneak peak at his new book: Take Command: 10 Leadership Principles I Learned in the Military and Put to Work for Donald Trump

and, check out his new profile on Zaadz at takecommand.zaadz.com!

Thinking and flames

2005-12-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

Inspirational art quotes and fine artists
http://www.artquotes.net

Art Quotes for December 16

Thinking gives off smoke to prove the existence of fire.
A mystic sits inside the burning.
::: Rumi - Mevlana :::

Develop an inner candle flame that won’t flicker even
when the worst goes before you.
::: Wayne Dyer :::

Real work...

2005-12-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

"Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment, and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing."
~ Thomas Edison, inventor

Zaadzster (Pre-)Beta version is live!

2005-12-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

Check it out:

brian.zaadz.com

and

www.zaadz.com/people

We won't be rolling stuff out "officially" till early '06 but cruise on over and join the first wave!!! :)

The Truth

2005-12-11T22:44:00.000-08:00

A new friend of mine shared this thought with me today:

"Pursue the truth,
whatever the costs
wherever it leads."

(Thanks, Sam.)

ZEN - FOR THOSE WHO TAKE LIFE SERIOUSLY

2005-12-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

Funny enough to share:

ZEN - FOR THOSE WHO TAKE LIFE SERIOUSLY

1. SAVE THE WHALES. COLLECT THE WHOLE SET.
2. A DAY WITHOUT SUNSHINE IS LIKE, NIGHT.
3. ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU HAVE DIFFERENT FINGERS.
4. I JUST GOT LOST IN THOUGHT. IT WASN'T FAMILIAR TERRITORY.
5. 42.7 PERCENT OF ALL STATISTICS ARE MADE UP ON THE SPOT.
6. I FEEL LIKE I\'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE.
7. HONK IF YOU LOVE PEACE AND QUIET.
8. REMEMBER, HALF THE PEOPLE YOU KNOW ARE BELOW AVERAGE.
9. HE WHO LAUGHS LAST, THINKS SLOWEST.
10. DEPRESSION IS MERELY ANGER WITHOUT ENTHUSIASM.
11. THE EARLY BIRD MAY GET THE WORM, BUT THE SECOND MOUSE GETS THE CHEESE.
12. I DRIVE WAY TOO FAST TO WORRY ABOUT CHOLESTEROL.
13. SUPPORT BACTERIA. THEY'RE THE ONLY CULTURE SOME PEOPLE HAVE.
14. MONDAY IS AN AWFUL WAY TO SPEND 1/7 OF YOUR WEEK.
15. A CLEAR CONSCIENCE IS USUALLY THE SIGN OF A BAD MEMORY.
16. CHANGE IS INEVITABLE, EXCEPT FROM VENDING MACHINES.
17. GET A NEW CAR FOR YOUR SPOUSE. IT'LL BE A GREAT TRADE!
18. PLAN TO BE SPONTANEOUS TOMORROW.
19. ALWAYS TRY TO BE MODEST, AND BE PROUD OF IT!
20. IF YOU THINK NOBODY CARES, TRY MISSING A COUPLE OF PAYMENTS.
21. HOW MANY OF YOU BELIEVE IN PSYCHO-KINESIS? RAISE MY HAND.
22. OK, SO WHAT'S THE SPEED OF DARK?
23. HOW DO YOU TELL WHEN YOU'RE OUT OF INVISIBLE INK?
24. IF EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE GOING WELL, YOU HAVE OBVIOUSLY OVERLOOKED SOMETHING.
25. WHEN EVERYTHING IS COMING YOUR WAY, YOU'RE IN THE WRONG LANE.
26. HARD WORK PAYS OFF IN THE FUTURE. LAZINESS PAYS OFF NOW.
27. EVERYONE HAS A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY. SOME JUST DO NOT HAVE FILM.
28. IF BARBIE IS SO POPULAR, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BUY HER FRIENDS?
29. HOW MUCH DEEPER WOULD THE OCEAN BE WITHOUT SPONGES?
30. EAGLES MAY SOAR, BUT WEASELS DO NOT GET SUCKED INTO JET ENGINES.
31. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU GET SCARED HALF TO DEATH TWICE?
32. I USED TO HAVE AN OPEN MIND BUT MY BRAINS KEPT FALLING OUT.
33. I COULDN'T REPAIR YOUR BRAKES, SO I MADE YOUR HORN LOUDER.
34. WHY DO PSYCHICS HAVE TO ASK YOU FOR YOUR NAME?
35. INSIDE EVERY OLDER PERSON IS A YOUNGER PERSON WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED.
36. JUST REMEMBER, IF THE WORLD DID NOT SUCK, WE WOULD ALL FALL OFF.
37. LIGHT TRAVELS FASTER THAN SOUND, WHICH IS WHY SOME PEOPLE APPEAR BRIGHT...UNTIL YOU HEAR THEM SPEAK.

Zaadz Daily Wisdom Podcast!

2005-12-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

It's official. From LearnOutLoud's blog:

Zaadz Daily Wisdom Podcast Launches - OK, one internal item of news. :) Today we started sending out the Zaadz Daily Wisdom Podcast, a daily podcast of inspirational quotes and teaches. Check it out when you get a chance. We think you'll dig it. To subscribe go to http://www.learnoutloud.com/wisdom or search the iTunes directory for "zaadz".

...

Woo hoo!

Hope you enjoy.

DiCaprio to Produce Environment Film

2005-12-05T22:25:00.000-08:00

DiCaprio to Produce Environment Film

Good stuff.

And, check out DiCaprio's work at his site.

Do your homework and Give!

2005-12-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

"A genius is a talented person who does his homework." ~ Thomas Edison, inventor

"No person has ever been honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave." ~ Calvin Coolidge, 30th US president

(Got those great quotes from Brian Tracy's newsletter)

Insider Pages & ZaadzPro Local

2005-12-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

We're going to be launching something called ZaadzPro Local in Spring '06. It's gonna integrate some aspects of our Zaadster social networking tools with online Yellow Pages stuff.

I'm articulating this in our biz plan now.

Found this great article I want to remember. So, I'm bloggin it. :)

Idealab chief stakes out new direction in search

Way of the Peaceful Warrior: The Movie

2005-12-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

Just got back from San Francisco (I'm in Los Angeles for those curious souls) where I joined about 50 of Dan Millman's friends in a pre-release viewing of the upcoming movie based on his book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior."

Dan got a standing ovation after the screening.

Cool stuff.

Cami Winikoff and her crew at Sabini Films (and Lion's Gate) did a GREAT job with it.

Obviously, it's tough to bring a book like that to the big screen and I think they did a really really good job with it. Nick Nolte stars as Socrates, Scott Mechlowicz plays Dan and Amy Smart plays Joy. Kudos to all for a brilliant job.

I'm really excited for the release of the film in April.

Fun fun fun.

(Also met John Raatz, a great guy and the President of The Visioneering Group, who was one of the forces behind the success of What the Bleep Do We Know?!?...He's involved with the Peaceful Warrior project and I have no doubt they're going to do some amazing stuff with this and the other films they're bringing to the world. Incredible times...)

Zaadz: New site launched

2005-12-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

Cool.

We just launched Zaadz on our new servers on Ruby on Rails.

One step closer to rolling out the goods in early '06.

Fun fun fun.

Reverence for Life

2005-12-01T00:52:00.000-08:00

Just got this from my friend Desmond and wanted to share! Thanks for the inspiration, Desmond. :)

Zaadz 2.0 – The Four Noble Truths of Software Development

2005-11-29T20:03:00.000-08:00

This is an early draft of an intro to a tech vision doc that Aaron (the co-founder and Wizard & Chief Experience Officer of Zaadz) is creating for our new engineers (go Ryan & Josh!!!).

Too funny and too cool not to share.

Zaadz 2.0 – The Four Noble Truths of Software Development

Introduction to the Journey

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

~ Lao Tzu

Our journey begins with the young Siddhartha, leaving the palace in India, his wife and his son Kishore, to find the noble truths to life and the secret to end suffering. Like Siddhartha, the intrepid founders of Zaadz have left the golden palaces of outsourced development, and through a difficult journey of introspection, contemplation, effort, and self-sacrifice have found the middle path, and the four noble truths of software development.

The First Noble Truth

Everything Takes Longer than You Expect

The concept behind zaadz was born many years ago. At times when it seemed as if success was inimitable and the birth of Zaadz just around the corner… and yet, the realization of this dream remained elusive. Through this time, however, the vision of what Zaadz is meant to be has evolved through the fire of hardship and challenge. Now we come to this project with new passion, and a new vision that is closer than ever to the desire that is in our hearts…

To build THE community that inspires and empowers the world to achieve their greatest dreams.

Bringing this great a vision into the world does not come about without true effort. So always remember the first noble truth. Be prepared for the long journey, work hard, and maintain your faith and passion in the dream of what we’re brining into the world even when setbacks occur. And by all means, keep yourself well capitalized.

The Second Noble Truth

Everything is Subject to Change and We Must Change With It

Ah, the impermanence of the material world. Especially in the fast paced world of technology, things are constantly changing and evolving. When faced with the daunting challenge of dismantling the entire architecture put forth by our Indian friends, Aaron was in dire need of a platform that could carry the lofty dreams of what Zaadz was destined to become.

As Aaron perused the landscape of available web development platforms, he was struck by the lack of a cohesive framework that made development simple. Then during a dream, Aaron was visited by an angel, who typed these words into his browser window…

www.rubyonrails.com

Lo and behold, the prophet Aaron saw god, and realized that Ruby on Rails would be the framework that could bring the vision of Zaadz into the world. Faced with the difficult challenge of forgoing all that came before, the decision was discussed and made… and in the process, the Zaadz vision and technology took a leap forward into Web 2.0, and into a community of developers who are as excited about the potential of this platform to bring web programming into the next century as we are about the potential for Zaadz to help millions of people to grow in their lives.

Always be ready and willing to made a change if it will further the vision of the company and product. Be willing to consider changes, even if it means sacrificing something that is already in place… and above all, always keep an eye on the horizon for what’s coming next.

The Third Noble Truth

The Key to Providing the Best Product is to Serve the Consumer

We all have a pretty good idea of what we think is going to be a powerful offering to the web community, but we should never forget that our customers drive the success of our product.

During the early days of eteamz, in the Old Testament, the prophet Brian communicated his vision that in five years, all youth sports teams would be using the web. And lo, the prophecy came to pass through the miracle of eteamz.

Why was eteamz successful? Because we listened and responded to our customer’s needs at every opportunity. Customer feedback was regularly encouraged and suggestions were implemented as soon as possible, sometimes within the hour.

As we seek to provide the product that will truly serve our customers, remember always to seek out and listen to their needs. We will be successful to the extent that we truly provide value to the people who we are serving.

The Fourth Noble Truth

The Path to the Perfect Product is Through Our Own Self-Discovery

Our work is inexplicably tied to our lives. Some people try to escape that… others embrace it. We’re excited to be embarking on a project that we can truly believe in. But let’s never forget that our passion for this development and this company is directly related to our continual growth and development.

Years ago, I was given the opportunity, a senior fresh out of college to take part in the development of a .com company. I remember fondly the days when I sat in my room at home with a Cold Fusion manual in my lap, chatting Brian on the IM from Pittsburgh, putting the first pieces of the eteamz site together.

From that time until now, I’ve grown and evolved. I’ve learned new programming languages, wrestled with server architecture, led integration teams, managed groups of outsourced programmers and found my passion in creating technology vision and working with bright, enthusiastic people who have a desire to change the world.

Now it’s time for me to pass that torch, and give you, the developers of Zaadz the opportunity to shine. I ask you to find your passion in this development. Do the work that needs to be done but continue to dream and find ways to serve your own needs through the technology that we’re building.

After all, we, the developers of Zaadz should be the first ones to make use of tools we are building for our own personal development. And if we aren’t, we had better figure out what feature is missing, speak up, and get it developed since the success of this company is ultimately tied to our own personal success and satisfaction.

Doing it right

2005-11-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

"If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"
~ John Wooden

Mindfulness

2005-11-27T12:30:00.000-08:00

Remember that the Chinese word we translate as "mind" actually means "mind+heart."

Love that.

(Just got reminded of that by Jon Kabbat-Zinn in an interview over at WIE on The Business of Changing the World. Thanks, Jon!)

More Mackey Mojo

2005-11-24T01:36:00.000-08:00

"I believe that the enlightened corporation should try to create value for all of its constituencies."

Have I mentioned that John Mackey--Whole Foods' CEO--is a genius yet?

Good.

Check out this brilliant article and get a deeper sense of why Whole Foods is so successful and embodies, perhaps more than any other company, the ideal company of the future:

Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business

Harvest Compassion this Thanksgiving

2005-11-23T17:25:00.000-08:00

From Compassion over Killing's newsletter.

Harvest Compassion This Thanksgiving

During the winter holiday season alone, more than 65 million turkeys will be killed for human consumption. Like other birds raised for food, turkeys are denied federal protection from even the worst abuses and are routinely treated in ways that would be illegal if the same cruelties were inflicted upon dogs or cats.

This Thanksgiving, a growing number of Americans are giving turkeys something to be thankful for—their lives.

Give Thanks & Acknowledge the Truth

2005-11-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

Check out this little article:

Give Thanks – and Acknowledge the Truth

(thanks for the heads up, Kriss!)

Note to self on Hayek's discovery process

2005-11-23T15:00:00.000-08:00

Alright. I'm working on our conscious capitalism stuff. Mackey's blog inspired me to study Hayek (whose stuff I've had on my shelf for a couple years), Mises and others. (Lots of reading to do.)

For now, I'm basically using this forum to capture some thoughts on the "Hayekian discovery process" as mentioned by Mackey when describing his management style:

Q: You've mentioned your management style, and I would like to explore that more. It's certainly worked very well, but it doesn't seem to be a very libertarian one. Do you see your management style as paradoxical given your libertarian philosophy?

JOHN: Most corporations in the United States are hardly the epitome of libertarian utopias. In fact, most corporations in the United States are organized as top-down, command & control, hierarchical systems. Very little personal freedom exists in these corporations. Their employees are often managed through either pure financial incentives -- greed -- or through fear -- "my way or the highway". Whole Foods is very, very different. Our mission at Whole Foods can be summed up by our slogan "Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet". We put great emphasis at Whole Foods on the "Whole People" part of this mission. We believe in helping support our team members to grow as individuals -- to become "Whole People". We consciously use Maslow's hierarchy of needs model to help our team members to move up Maslow's hierarchy. As much as we are able, we attempt to manage through love instead of fear or greed. We allow tremendous individual initiative at Whole Foods and that's why our company is so innovative and creative. Most retail companies create a prototype retail store format and then cookie-cutter reproduce it across the country. Think McDonalds. Not Whole Foods. We have no prototype store. All our stores are unique. Why? Because our team members are constantly innovating, experimenting, and improving them. Whole Foods is very much committed to a Hayekian discovery process and our team members -- both as individuals and as members of teams -- are leading this Hayekian discovery process. As our team members learn and grow as individuals, as they become self-actualized, as they become "Whole People", our company better fulfills its mission to all of its stakeholders.

The seeming paradox that you keep hinting at is no paradox at all. Human beings are both individuals and members of communities (or collectives). We learn and grow best through relationships and our growth will always be limited without them. I haven't met anyone that I consider to be self-actualizing who did it all by themselves. Freedom as an ideal is a very, very incomplete ideal when it lacks love. Freedom is my highest "political ideal", but love is my highest "personal ideal". We need both. There is no paradox and there is no contradiction here. Freedom and love: let us marry these two together!

--

Love that.

Alright, so below is a blurb on the "Hayekian discovery process."

In sum: Hayek proposed that capitalism promotes a development of tacit knowledge within an organization that allows for subtle distinctions to be made, improving the efficiencies of that organization's production. Which is one of the reasons why, Hayek would argue, a centralized socialist organization would fail to work optimally beyond a basic level of complexity.

Mackey's point: Whole Foods is constantly evolving by trusting its people's tacit knowledge and finding innovative ways for its "whole people" to contribute--providing a competitive edge to WF in the process. Sweet.

Here's the passage from Hayek's bio on Mises' site:

Much of the knowledge necessary for running the economic system, Hayek contended, is in the form not of "scientific" or technical knowledge--the conscious awareness of the rules governing natural and social phenomena--but of "" knowledge, the idiosyncratic, dispersed bits of understanding of "circumstances of time and place." This tacit knowledge is often not consciously known even to those who possess it and can never be communicated to a central authority. The market tends to use this tacit knowledge through a type of "discovery procedure" (Hayek, 1968a), by which this information is unknowingly transmitted throughout the economy as an unintended consequence of individuals' pursuing their own ends.⁽¹⁷⁾ Indeed, Hayek's (1948b) distinction between the neoclassical notion of "competition," identified as a set of equilibrium conditions (number of market participants, characteristics of the product, and so on), and the older notion of competition as a rivalrous process, has been widely influential in Austrian economics (Kirzner, 1973; Machovec, 1995).

For Hayek, market competition generates a particular kind of order--an order that is the product "of human action but not human design" (a phrase Hayek borrowed from Adam Smith's mentor Adam Ferguson). This "spontaneous order" is a system that comes about through the independent actions of many individuals, and produces overall benefits unintended and mostly unforeseen by those whose actions bring it about. To distinguish between this kind of order and that of a deliberate, planned system, Hayek (1968b, pp. 72-76) used the Greek terms cosmos for a spontaneous order and taxis for a consciously planned one.⁽¹⁸⁾ Examples of a cosmos include the market system as a whole, money, the common law, and even language. A taxis, by contrast, is a designed or constructed organization, like a firm or bureau; these are the "islands of conscious power in [the] ocean of unconscious cooperation like lumps of butter coagulating in a pail of buttermilk" (D. H. Robertson, quoted in Coase, 1937, p. 35).⁽¹⁹⁾

Most commentators view Hayek's work on knowledge, discovery, and competition as an outgrowth of his participation in the socialist calculation debate of the 1920s and 1930s. The socialists erred, in Hayek's view, in failing to see that the economy as a whole is necessarily a spontaneous order and can never be deliberately made over in the way that the operators of a planned order can exercise control over their organization. This is because planned orders can handle only problems of strictly limited complexity. Spontaneous orders, by contrast, tend to evolve through a process of natural selection, and therefore do not need to be designed or even understood by a single mind.⁽²⁰⁾

Most commentators view Hayek's work on knowledge, discovery, and competition as an outgrowth of his participation in the socialist calculation debate of the 1920s and 1930s. The socialists erred, in Hayek's view, in failing to see that the economy as a whole is necessarily a spontaneous order and can never be deliberately made over in the way that the operators of a planned order can exercise control over their organization. This is because planned orders can handle only problems of strictly limited complexity. Spontaneous orders, by contrast, tend to evolve through a process of natural selection, and therefore do not need to be designed or even understood by a single mind.

John Mackey Rocks (he's Whole Foods' CEO)

2005-11-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

Check out John Mackey's blog. The man's a genius.

And check out this 20 questions interview for a briliant overview of the true function of businesses. I'm developing our concept for "conscious capitalism" over here at Zaadz and Mackey epitomizes the ideals around which we're striving to build our business.

Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.

(btw: for those of you who didn't know, John's a vegan. Cool article on that progression and Whole Foods' remarkable success.

Great quote from that article--among many many others: "If you look back 100 years from now, history will show that Whole Foods will be in the top-five companies that changed the world."

thought on animal care:

Mackey's new determination to raise Whole Foods' standards for animal care -- a command decision to which there has been nothing but assent internally -- may rock the cattle, pork, and poultry industries. After six months of meetings, Whole Foods settled on rules for ducks, and this summer will begin setting standards for pig raising. And Mackey believes Americans will soon shun factory farms that raise and slaughter 9 billion animals a year as if they were protein products, not creatures. "Right now," he says, "Americans have to pretend factory farms don't exist. They turn their eyes away, because there's no alternative, there's no choice." Once there is a choice, he says, we will allow ourselves to be outraged. Equally dramatic transformations have happened in the past 25 years. Consider the revolution in attitudes about drunk driving and smoking in the United States.

In 20 years of making predictions about his company and his business, Mackey has never missed a bet, except for underestimating the market for organic and natural foods. (At one point in the early 1990s, he said there were only 100 good sites for Whole Foods markets in the entire country.) Sitting in his office in 2004, he says without hesitation, "Twenty years from now, factory farms will be illegal in the United States."

*Wow.*

I could quote so much from each of those articles. Highly recommend you read em both.

A final thought from Mr. Mackey: "...follow your heart wherever it takes you. Choose love instead of fear. If you do, a wonderful life adventure awaits you! Carpe diem!"

Gas Guzzling Food

2005-11-22T00:04:00.000-08:00

Gas Guzzling Food: The SUV in the Pantry

by Thomas Starrs

I spend a fair amount of time thinking about how to reduce my family's dependence on energy, particularly energy derived from fossil fuels. I commute to work by bicycle or bus, install compact fluorescents when light bulbs burn out, replace major appliances with the most efficient ones I can afford, and cast jealous glances at my friends who drive hybrids or alternative-fueled vehicles. But until recently, I didn't think of myself asan energy glutton because of the food I eat.

Then I read an astonishing statistic: It takes about 10 fossil fuel calories to produce each food calorie in the average American diet. So if your daily food intake is 2,000 calories, then it took 20,000 calories to grow that food and get it to you. In more familiar units, this means that growing, processing and delivering the food consumed by a family of four each year requires the equivalent of almost 34,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy, or more than 930 gallons of gasoline (for comparison, the average U.S. household annually consumes about 10,800 kWh of electricity, or about 1,070gallons of gasoline).

In other words, we use about as much energy to grow our food as to power our homes or fuel our cars.

Overall, about 15% OF U.S. energy goes to supplying Americans with food, split roughly equally between the production of crops and livestock, and food processing and packaging. David Pimentel, a professor of ecology and agricultural science at Cornell University, has estimated that if all humanity ate the way Americans eat, we would exhaust all known fossil fuelreserves in just seven years.

The implications of agricultural energy use for the environment are disturbing. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, agriculture contributes over 20% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, including more than 20% CO2, 55% of methane and 65% of nitrous oxide. In addition, our energy-intensive agriculture industry contributes
substantially to soil erosion, loss of wildlife habitat, degradation of water quality from chemical runoff and causes other adverse environmental impacts.

Much of the energy embedded in our food comes from growing grains that require further processing to be eaten. Producing a 2-pound box of breakfast cereal, for example, requires the equivalent of burning half a gallon ofgasoline.

Eating high on the food chain is even worse. Eating a carrot or an apple gives the diner all the caloric energy in those foods, but feeding these foods to a pig reduces the energy available by a factor of 10. That's because the pig uses most of the energy just staying alive, and stores only
a fraction of the energy in the parts we eat. All told, it takes 68 calories of fossil fuel to produce one calorie of pork, and 35 calories of fuel to make one calorie of beef.

Interestingly, the path to reducing the energy intensity of the food system dovetails nicely with the path to a healthy and nutritious diet. It can besummarized in three simple suggestions.

First, eat lower on the food chain. That means more fruits and vegetables, and fewer meats and fish. Meats, poultry and fish contain necessary proteins, but most American diets contain too much protein - about twice the recommended amount. Since 80% of the grains go to feeding livestock, the amount of energy used indirectly to support our diet of double bacon cheeseburgers is staggering. And, if you do eat meat, then try to avoid animals grown in feedlots or factory pens. They take far more energy calories to raise than free-range, grassfed critters, which have only abouta third of the embedded energy.

Second, eat more fresh foods and fewer processed foods. Fruits and vegetables again, but also whole grains, legumes and other less-processed foods, have much less embedded energy. In general, the more packaging, themore processing - and the more energy associated with its production.

Third, buy local. Incredibly, the food items on U.S. grocery store shelves have traveled an average of 1,500 miles. And some foods are much worse. Table grapes grown in Chile, transported by ship to California and shipped by truck to Iowa have traveled over 4,200 miles. In response, some agricultural scientists have proposed ecolabeling programs based on CO2
rankings or broader lifecycle assessments.

These analyses provide better information than just miles traveled. For instance, because they travel by air rather than by ship, Hawaiian pineapples are among the most carbon intensive of foods, contributing about 40 pounds of CO2 per pound of pineapple. That is about 10 times the nexthighest figure among the foods studied.

In my hometown of Portland, Oregon, individuals and businesses alike are starting to recognize and respond to the public's concerns about fossil food. Grocery stores featuring locally grown and organic products are common. Farm stands, farmer's markets and community-supported agriculture operations are thriving. Here, even fast food restaurants are using localand organic ingredients.

For instance, Burgerville is a local chain that buys exclusively Oregon Country Beef, the branded product of 40 family ranches in the region that produce an all-natural product made without hormones, genetically modified grain or any animal byproducts. Burgerville promotes the fact that customers can trace the source of their food from ranch to table - and play a role in
sustaining the local agricultural economy. Another local company, Hot Lips Pizza, worked with a group of Northwest farmers to create a Food Alliance-certified local market for organic wheat and flour, providing customers with pizza that is sustainably grown. It also is really, really
tasty.

After all, you are what you eat.

God and the Wizard of Ads

2005-11-21T11:03:00.000-08:00

"God, let's not make this about how good I am. Let's make it about how good you are."
~ Roy H. Williams

Just pulled that from this morning's Monday Morning Memo from the Wizard of Ads himself, Roy H. Williams. The guy rocks. Check out his newsletter and his books--some of the best on marketing you're gonna read.

The Witness

2005-11-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

Just watched The Witness by Tribe of Heart films.

Amazing.

The documentary is a wonderful look at one man's compassion and his work to bring more awareness to the world.

I highly recommend it.

Plus, here's the recommended course of action in the change-the-world-together formula:

Check out the preview. Then support them by buying the film (gotta circulate wealth to help them play their part in using their gifts in the greatest service to the world!). Then watch it. Then change your lifestyle as you see fit. Then show some friends. Then be the change moment to moment.

With love and compassion.

-b

Online dating gets slapped...

2005-11-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

Online dating gets slapped...
with suits: Match.com is accused of sending out bogus romantic e-mails, Yahoo may have posted made up profiles.

Yikes.

I can't wait till we launch our ZaadzMatch tools. That's gonna be fun.

(And, although I may have our engineers make it so I show up in most searches the ladies do for 30 something year old men, I can promise you we won't have any bogus bait-dates or fake bios. :)

Potential Effects of the Next 100 Billion Hamburgers Sold by McDonald's

2005-11-19T13:37:00.000-08:00

Great little paper on the Potential Effects of the Next 100 Billion Hamburgers Sold by McDonald's comparing the impact of McDonald's selling 100 billion veggie burgers rather than another 100 billion meat burgers.

Interesting stuff.

The article touches on the nutrition issues...a look at the envioronmental/ecological would be fascinating as well...

From my friend Gabriel who sent me the article:

What was most interesting to me, besides the scary thought that 96 percent of americans eat at McDonalds each year - 96 percent! - is that the McVeggie burgers have twice as much protein as the beef bugers. People are always asking me how a vegetarian can get enough protein, but protein is the easiest thing to get in any diet, provided that you are not starving. Too bad the fast-food veggie burgers are nowhere near as good as the ones you get at the grocery store.

(Thanks for the heads-up, Gabriel!)

Shame on Them: Tell Col. Murtha Not to Back Down

2005-11-19T01:18:00.000-08:00

Shame on Them: Tell Col. Murtha Not to Back Down

John Murtha spent 37 years in Marine Corps, earned the Bronze Star, two purple hearts, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. And for the last thirty years he’s been one of the most respected voices in Congress on military issues -- universally respected by Democrats, Republicans and military brass alike.

Now he's speaking out on Iraq -- and the Republican smear machine has questioned his wisdom, his courage, and even his patriotism. Shame on them. Every one of us -- right now -- needs to let Jack Murtha know that we respect his service, respect his leadership, and respect his right to speak the truth. This man has spent his life serving us. The very least each one of us can do is let him know that no matter what dishonorable smear campaign Republicans wage we will be there with him.

Send Congressman Murtha a note telling him that you will not be silent while he is attacked -- Governor Dean will deliver it personally with his own thanks:

http://democrats.org/page/petition/shameonthem

10 over 100

2005-11-19T01:13:00.000-08:00

Just got this heads up from my buddy Jon:

http://www.10over100.org

McLibel

2005-11-19T01:04:00.000-08:00

McDonald's sucks.

Check out McLibel -- a great little documentary on the peeps who fought McDonald's and won (Netflix it or buy it).

More:

McLibel is the story of two ordinary people who humiliated McDonald's in the biggest corporate PR disaster in history.

McDonald's loved using the UK libel laws to suppress criticism. Major media organisations like the BBC and The Guardian crumbled and apologised. But then they sued gardener Helen Steel and postman Dave Morris.

In the longest trial in English legal history, the "McLibel Two" represented themselves against McDonald's £10 million legal team. Every aspect of the corporation's business was cross-examined: from junk food and McJobs, to animal cruelty, environmental damage and advertising to children.

Outside the courtroom, Dave brought up his young son alone and Helen supported herself working nights in a bar. McDonald's tried every trick in the book against them. Legal manoeuvres. A visit from Ronald McDonald. Top executives flying to London for secret settlement negotiations. Even spies.

Seven years later, in February 2005, the marathon legal battle finally concluded at the European Court of Human Rights. And the result took everyone by surprise - especially the British Government.

McLibel is not just about hamburgers. It is about the importance of freedom of speech now that multinational corporations are more powerful than countries.

Filmed over ten years by no-budget Director Franny Armstrong, McLibel is the David and Goliath story of two people who refused to say sorry. And in doing so, changed the world.

You can find everything you ever need to know about the McLibel story on the world-famous McSpotlight website. "The blueprint for all activist websites", as Wired magazine memorably put it.

Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices

2005-11-19T00:46:00.000-08:00

Just watched "Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices."

My God.

Would somebody please send their CEO, Lee Scott, a copy of Good Business?!?

Go get the movie. Watch it. Cry. Get pissed. And let's change the world.

(How? Important point: Not by rejecting capitalism but by creating businesses that generate profits as a by-product of truly serving.)

btw: Robert Greenwald is brilliant and the peeps at Brave New Films rock. Check out their other stuff. I just watched Outfoxed as well and ordered Unprecedented, Unconstitutional and Uncovered.

The Bodhisattva Vow

2005-11-16T18:52:00.000-08:00

The Bodhisattva's Vow

So long as space remains,

So long as sentient beings remain,

I will remain,

In order to help,

In order to serve,

In order to make,

My own contribution.

~ Tibetan prayer translated by The Dalai Lama

MoveOn from Wal-Mart

2005-11-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

Another worth reading. (And if you haven't joined MoveOn yet, please do. Thanks.)

Dear MoveOn member,

The grassroots response to the new Wal-Mart documentary has been incredible. Thanks to you and our many partners, "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" will debut next week in over 7,000 living rooms and community centers across the country—a true groundswell.

MoveOn is co-sponsoring the screenings on Tuesday, November 15th with a focus on legislative solutions. But you can also find a Wal-Mart house party any day next week with different themes, ranging from health care to small businesses, and meet up with folks from many different sectors in your community.

Can you join us at a screening in your neighborhood? Find one now, at:

http://www.walmartmovie.com/find.php?track=moveon

Click here to get your own advance copy of the movie, and support this grassroots effort:

http://www.walmartmovie.com/watch.php?track=moveon

The screenings are organized by a historic alliance of labor unions, small businesses, churches and progressive groups¹ who have all come together to tell the true story of Wal-Mart's toll on American workers and communities—and to push for change.

Why Wal-Mart? As the world's largest corporation, Wal-Mart has single-handedly lowered the bar for working families in the global economy. By bringing together allies from every sector, this campaign offers the unique opportunity to force real reform in Wal-Mart, and beyond. And as we prepare for 2006, it shows how the progressive economic values that built this country are so badly needed once again.

As Congressman George Miller put it in the introduction to a Congressional report on Wal-Mart:

There's no question that Wal-Mart imposes a huge, often hidden, cost on its workers, our communities, and U.S. tax-payers...And Wal-Mart is in the driver's seat in the global race to the bottom, suppressing wage levels, workplace protections, and labor laws.²

Miller's Congressional inquiry found that Wal-Mart's full time employees are paid so little that the average Wal-Mart store costs American tax-pyaers over $400,000 in emergency health care, rent assistance, nutrition programs and educational services for employees and their families.³

Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price was produced for less than half of what Wal-Mart spends on PR in a single day,⁴ but it has clearly hit a nerve. Wal-Mart is pouring millions of dollars into PR firms and political consultants to try to stamp out this fire.⁵ And it's no wonder—it's a powerful movie.

The film features real stories told by the people who lived them: Wal-Mart employees (from executives to floor level) shocked by abuse and discrimination, family owned businesses blown away by the Wal-Mart storm, even sweatshop workers in China and Bangladesh who produce the Wal-Mart apparel.

Next week, tens of thousands of us will gather in living rooms across the country to hear the true story of Wal-Mart and then take action together to make a difference. We hope you can join us.

To find a screening near you, click here:

http://www.walmartmovie.com/find.php?track=moveon

To buy your own copy of the film, and support this campaign, click here:

http://www.walmartmovie.com/watch.php?track=moveon

Thanks for all that you do.

–Ben, Matt, Micayla, Carrie and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Thursday, November 10th, 2005

p.s. Since its release, the film has been getting rave reviews. Here's just a couple:

From The Los Angeles Times:

"Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" is an engrossing, muckraking documentary about the retail giant that's been called "the world's largest, richest and probably meanest corporation."⁶

From The New York Times:

"The High Cost of Low Price" makes its case with breathtaking force.⁷

From Entertainment Weekly:

"Greenwald floats the vital issue of whether Wal-Mart should be restrained by antimonopoly regulations, but his real question is cultural: Even with its rock-bottom prices, is Wal-Mart in the best interest of American consumers?"⁸

From T.V. Guide:

"3.5 (out of 4) stars! [An] Important, awareness-building documentary."⁹

From the Villiage Voice:

"Viewers may not be surprised to learn of Wal-Mart's horrific track record, but they can't deny Greenwald's airtight advocacy."¹⁰

Sources:

1. For a partial list of partners and supporters of the Wal-Mart movie, see:
http://www.walmartmovie.com/screenings.htm

2. "New Report Details Wal-Mart's Labor Abuses and Hidden Costs," United States House of Representatives, Committee on Education and the Work Force, Democratic Staff, February 14, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1135

3. "New Report Details Wal-Mart's Labor Abuses and Hidden Costs," United States House of Representatives, Committee on Education and the Work Force, Democratic Staff, February 14, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1135

4. According the Wal-Mart 2005 Annual Report, the company spends $1.4 billion annually on public relations, or $3.8 million a day.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1136

Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price was made for $1.8 million.
"Local church to show film critical of Wal-Mart," Lincoln Journal Star, Thursday, November 10th 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1137

5. "A New Weapon for Wal-Mart: A War Room," The New York Times, November 1st, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1138

6. "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," The Los Angeles Times, November 4th, 2005
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-walmart4nov04,0,4680829.story?coll=cl-movies-util

7. "A Look Inside the Outsize Company That Is the Biggest Retailer on the Planet," The New York Times, November 4th, 2005 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1139

8. Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," Entertainment Weekly, November 4th 2005
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/movie/0,6115,1125297_1_0_,00.html

9. "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," T.V. Guide, November, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1140

10. "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," The Villiage Voice, November 1st, 2005
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0544,tracking4,69580,20.html

MoveOn from Exxon

2005-11-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

Just got this. Worth sharing:

Dear MoveOn member,

During yesterday's hearings on recent record oil industry profits, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told the oil executives, "People are concerned about fairness and justice at a time of sacrifice. Your sacrifice appears to be nothing."¹ ExxonMobil just reported the largest quarterly profits—$9.9 billion—of any American corporation in history.² ExxonMobil spends its record profits fighting virtually all meaningful efforts towards ending our dependence on oil.

That's why we're working with a large coalition of public interest and environmental groups to call on Exxon to start investing its profits in real solutions to our energy crisis. Can you sign the petition to ExxonMobil and tell them you're not going to buy their gas, work for them, or invest in their company until they change? We'll send the petition to Exxon and to Congress. The coalition already has over 200,00 signatures, and we're aiming for 100,000 more immediately to respond to yesterday's hearings. Please sign now:

http://political.moveon.org/exxon?id=6320-3835412-lnjRuAN2u.yiF2zG9lzcvg&t=2

The only answer to the current energy crisis is energy independence. That's something we'll be working on together in the next few weeks—one of the big positive things progressives stand for. And we're starting with ExxonMobil, the biggest obstacle in the way.

Exxon owes much of its lobbying success to close ties to Republican leaders. Over the last decade, Exxon has given more than $5.2 million to Republicans, while giving less than $650,000 to Democrats.³ This year 91% of Exxon's political contributions have gone to Republicans.⁴ In turn, Republican energy policy has amounted to a series of massive handouts to the oil industry. Even now, with Republicans grandstanding with show hearings on television, they refused to make the oil executives testify under oath.⁵ Together with the coalition, we'll deliver your petition signature to ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, and we'll send a copy to Congress to help break Exxon's stranglehold on our government.

There are four main areas in which Exxon needs drastic change:⁶

With gas prices near $3 a gallon, it's outrageous to watch ExxonMobil rake in record profits while refusing to support greater fuel economy or invest significant amounts in cleaner, healthier energy.
ExxonMobil is the only oil company that remains part of Arctic Power, the group lobbying Congress to open the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Congress will cast the final vote on drilling in the Arctic shortly.
ExxonMobil has spent over $15 million since 1998 to deny the existence of global warming by funding junk science groups to cloud the debate. The company lobbies against efforts to fight global warming even as it alone is responsible for 5% of the world's output of the main type of global warming pollution.
Remember the Exxon Valdez tragedy? Exxon's tanker killed hundreds of thousands of seals, otters, birds, fish and whales when it spilled 11 million gallons of thick, deadly crude oil into the waters of Alaska's pristine Prince William Sound. Yet despite making a record profit of $25 billion last year, ExxonMobil is still shirking payment of the full amount it owes fishermen and natives hurt by the spill 16 years ago!

The Exxpose Exxon campaign includes a dozen leading environmental and public interest groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), True Majority, the Alaska Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Defenders of Wildlife, and more.

By signing this petition you'll be joining hundreds of thousands of Americans working to expose one of the largest and most powerful oil giants in the world and their protectors in Congress.

Please sign the petition today:

http://political.moveon.org/exxon/?id=6320-3835412-lnjRuAN2u.yiF2zG9lzcvg&t=3

Thanks for all you do,

–Adam, Nita, James, Matt and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Thursday, November 10th, 2005

SOURCES :

You can learn much more about ExxonMobil and the campaign at http://www.ExxposeExxon.com. It is also featured in this morning's New York Times article about the hearings:
"Senators Grill Oil Executives on Profits and Prices," http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1141

1. "In heated hearings, oil bosses defend big profits," MSNBC, November 9, 2005
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9970294/
2. "Exxon profits hit fresh US record," BBC News, October 27, 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4383296.stm
3. "Business sees Gains in GOP Takeover," Washington Post, March 27, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=862
4. "No Disruption In Flow Of Oil Company PAC $," Political Moneyline, November 8, 2005
http://www.tray.com/
5."Big oil CEOs under fire in Congress," CNNMoney, November 9, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1131
6. This section is from http://www.exxposeexxon.com/facts/ and the 5% figure is from the Friends of the Earth report at http://www.moveon.org/r?r=860
7. "House Shelves Alaska Drilling in Budget Fight," New York Times, November 10, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/10/national/10cong.html

What's your objective?

2005-11-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

"We succeed only as we identify in life, or in war, or in anything else, a single overriding objective, and make all other considerations bend to that one objective."
~ Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th US president

OMIGOD. The Integral Institute and the peeps who run it are cool

2005-11-09T20:26:00.000-08:00

I just got back from Boulder, CO a couple hours ago. Spent about ten days out there. Attended an INCREDIBLE 5 day seminar put on by the Integral Institute. Wow. I'll be blogging more on that later but for now: Wow.

Kudos to all the amazing people who put that together. And all the amazing people who attended. What an experience...

And, we got to spend a couple hours chatting with Ken Wilber (have I mentioned he's a genius...oh yah, I did...) about what we're up to at Zaadz and how our tools can help develop his community. Fun. We're excited to be working with the crew (go Casey and Rollie!! :) over the next coupla months (and beyond) to bring some cool stuff to the world. Woo hoo.

(btw: if you haven't subscribed to Integral Naked yet, what are you waiting for?!!?!? Find a better way to spend $10/month and I'll buy you a pack of gum...or something...Seriously. Get on that!!)

Other exciting news from the week: spent some time with Shawn Phillips. One insanely cool dood who we can't wait to bring into the Zaadz community as well.

Fun. Fun. Fun.

Alright.

Time for me to get some sleep. I've missed my bed. :)

Education: Lighting a fire

2005-10-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

"Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire."

~ William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
Irish poet, playwright & mystic, winner of Nobel prize in 1923

Leaf Cuisine is expanding!! Woo hoo!!!

2005-10-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

So excited.

One of my favorite restaurants in LA is opening up its second restaurant.

Rod Rotundi, the brilliant soul behind Leaf Cuisine, has figured out a way to create incredible d-liscious raw food (amazing salads, wraps, smoothies, etc.) at incredibly affordable prices. (And, he should charge for the energy he creates in his restaurants alone! Seriously.)

If you haven't been to the Leaf in Culver City (on Washington just west of the 405) then get over there. If you're closer to the Valley, then cruise on over to the opening day party on November 12th from noon to six. Guaranteed to be a great time with the amazing people and energy that Leaf attracts.

Here's where it's all happenin'

Leaf in the Valley!

We are turning over a "new Leaf" in Sherman Oaks onVentura Blvd!

Grand Opening Party on November 12th from noon to 6 PM.

14318 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
(Oak Ridge Plaza- cross street is Beverly Glen)

Congrats, Rod! Keep up the outstanding work!!!! (And the simply d-liscious food!!)

(OMIGOD I can't wait till there's a leaf next to every Micky-D's... :)

Erik Marcus: Meat Market & vegan.com

2005-10-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

Just got back from dinner with Erik Marcus of vegan.com followed up by his book signing in Pasadena.

Incredibly cool guy. Unbelievably passionate about his work and committed to changing the world.

Good combo. I like him.

Check out his new book: Meat Market: Animals, Ethics & Money. Buy a copy thru the link or cruise on over to a Borders to support a guy who deserves to be supported and to learn what's up with the abuse in the production of the meat our world consumes.

First of all, did you know we killed 10 BILLION animals in the US alone last year? Yikes. That number always blows me away...

His thoughts: There are a lot of compelling reasons to become vegetarian/vegan. The three major ones: nutrition reasons, environmental reasons & ethical reasons. His focus is on (and he thinks animal's rights activists' focus should be on) the ethics issue.

His big point: Our farms aren't what they used to be and animals are not treated the way they used to be treated. We now have factory farms. Animals are now commodities--not a whole lot different than scrap metal. The definition of a commodity is that it is essentially undifferentiated, meaning that, as a consumer, I'm just gonna buy the cheapest version of it. Now, if I'm the producer of these commodities, that means that I'm competing to deliver the cheapest price possible--and I'm constantly trying to shave a penny here and a penny there. If I fail to find ways to cut costs, I'll simply be driven out of business by my competitors who do find ways...

That's cool with scrap metal but when you cut costs in the production of animals, you're doing so at the great expense of animal welfare.

Imagine what happens when you commoditize and demand the reduction of cost to the production of animals, specifically to eggs as an example: Now, if my competitors can deliver an egg for less than 10 cents, I better be able to do the same thing. The only way I can do that is to pack as many chickens into the smallest space as possible requiring as little human labor as possible. Among the things you get in this scenario are chickens getting their beeks burned off so they won't peck at themselves and other chickens once they're put into battery cages so small they can never flap their wings their entire lives. Apply it to pigs and you get things like castration without anesthesia so you can save a few cents per, and real pleasant stuff like that.

My bottom line: animals are NOT commodities. They're sentient beings who should be treated with compassion. And, if we're going to consume them and their products, we should do so while creating the least amount of suffering possible. Our current system, is, in my opinion, disgustingly unethical.

I fundamentally believe that if more people had more awareness, they would, as consumers, DEMAND more humane treatment and be willing to pay more for that. I'm committed to raising people's awareness in this and all other domains. As it is, I refuse to contribute to the suffering and hope you'll join me in the effort.

Also: be sure to check out vegan.com & veganfreaks.com for some other good stuff.

Thanks for all your hard work, Erik.

Namaste.

Flowing with your soul

2005-10-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

A beautiful thought by Rumi from my buddy Dion at Art Quotes:

Inspirational art quotes and fine artists
http://www.artquotes.net

Art Quotes for October 26

When you do things from your soul, you feel a river
moving in you, a joy.
::: Rumi :::

Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America’s Favorite Food

2005-10-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

Haven't read it yet, but looks interesting.

http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/images/full/0300095295.jpg

Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America’s Favorite Food by Steve Striffler

From inside the chicken factory, a report on the real cost of chicken for farmers, workers, and consumers.

Anthropologist Steve Striffler begins this book in a poultry processing plant, drawing on his own experiences there as a worker. He also reports on the way chickens are raised today and how they are consumed. What he discovers about America’s favorite meat is not just unpleasant but a powerful indictment of our industrial food system. The process of bringing chicken to our dinner tables is unhealthy for all concerned—from farmer to factory worker to consumer.

The book traces the development of the poultry industry since the Second World War, analyzing the impact of such changes as the destruction of the family farm, the processing of chicken into nuggets and patties, and the changing makeup of the industrial labor force. The author describes the lives of immigrant workers and their reception in the small towns where they live. The conclusion is clear: there has to be a better way. Striffler proposes radical but practical change, a plan that promises more humane treatment of chickens, better food for the consumer, and fair payment for food workers and farmers.

STEVE STRIFFLER is associate professor of anthropology, University of Arkansas. Excerpt from the Book:

It is my first day of work in one of the largest poultry-processing plants in the world. I am given “the tour” that all new workers receive. We begin in live hanging. Hundreds of live chickens flood off the trucks, down a chute, and into a bin where workers quickly hang them by their feet onto the production line. It’s surreal. It is nearly pitch black, on the theory that the darkness soothes the terrified birds. The smell and look of the place are oppressive, so I look for something to focus on other than the hanging itself. A worker. I eventually learn that Javier is from Mexico , but the figure is hard to make out at first. He is covered from head to toe in protective clothing that is itself coated with blood, shit, and feathers. Javier’s job is simple, if somewhat gruesome. The chickens have already passed through scalding hot water and have been electrocuted, a process designed to both kill the bird and begin the cleaning. Neither task is accomplished perfectly. The communal baths, popularly known as fecal soups, do clean, but they also pass harmful microbes from one bird to the next. The bath also doesn’t do a particularly good job of killing the chickens: one out of every twenty seems to make it through alive. The birds are in their last stages of life when they reach Javier. For eight hours a day he sits on a stool, knife in hand, and stabs the few chickens that have managed to hold onto life.

While watching Javier, I realize what this book will be about. How did Javier and the chickens arrive in this place, under these conditions? Where do they go once they leave the plant? And what does their experience in the plant mean to those of us who eat chicken? The search for answers led me to study a period when chickens were raised and processed quite differently, and to visit poultry farms, supermarkets, restaurants, and communities in the southern United States and central Mexico . As I learned while doing this research, whereas the chicken’s journey is one characterized by uniformity and predictability, the worker’s path is defined by variation, insecurity, and chaos. Neither experience leads to a particularly healthy outcome for bird, worker, farmer, environment, or consumer.

I do not feel sorry for Javier or the chickens. I have worked in a plant before, and stabbing chickens is a relatively easy job. Many workers would be glad to trade places. And the chickens are there to die. I knew this going in. The problem, which became more transparent as I passed by “evisceration,” the “KFC line,” and the “wing room,” was that no one departed from the plant in particularly good shape. The workers left poor, exhausted, and, in many cases, seriously injured. The chickens not only exited the plant dead, but in a “further-processed” form that was not particularly healthy for consumers. In short, the postwar promise of the industrial chicken—as a healthy, plentiful alternative to beef—has been lost for all of the people involved in its raising, processing, and consumption. There has to be a better way.

Reviews

"Striffler presents the first in-depth look at the rise of the chicken industry in late twentieth-century America. The story is vivid, engaging, and—in chapters dealing with Mexican and other immigrant chickenworkers—riveting."—Deborah Fitzgerald, author of Every Farm a Factory

“A gripping and deeply sobering view of ‘big chicken’ from the bottom up. Striffler’s experience on the (dis)assembly line, his sympathetic grasp of the hopes, dreams, and origins of the workforce, and of the larger history of the industry, make for a uniquely powerful and memorable book.”—James C. Scott, Yale University

"Modern chicken production and consumption is embedded in a fascinating web of political, economic, social, and even psychological factors that need to be described, understood, and questioned. Steve Striffler, combining scholarly analysis with his remarkable brand of participatory research, has produced a masterful book, one I will recommend widely."—Kelly Brownell, Yale University

"With gripping prose and clear analysis, Striffler's Chicken brings workers, growers, consumers, as well as bird together around one big, unhappy table. His treatment of Mexican immigrant workers at Tyson's, inparticular, is a model of modern-day ethnography."—Leon Fink, editor of Labor: Working-Class History of the Americas

"Extraordinarily powerful. . . . This book will do for chicken what Fast Food Nation did for beef." — Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health

“[A] fast-paced narrative, rich with personal detail.”—Publishers Weekly

Student Suspended After Wearing Penis Costume

2005-10-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

Too funny not to share:

Student Suspended After Wearing Penis Costume

(Watch the video for full effect.

What's this world coming to?!? A kid can't wear a penis costume to another school's homecoming?

:)

Ken Wilber on the War In Iraq

2005-10-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the most well thought out analysis of the war in Iraq you're likely to read. (If you find a better one, please let me know.)

The War In Iraq by Ken Wilber.

Integral: WET | Institute | Naked

2005-10-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

Just got back from an AMAZING weekend immersion into Ken Wilber and the Integral Institute's integral philosophy.

All I can say is: "OMIGOD."

Brilliant stuff.

And, simply amazing people. Learn more about that seminar here.

If you haven't subscribed to Integral Naked yet, then get on it, would ya?!?! It's the best 10 bucks I'll ever spend a month.

And, get into Ken Wilber as well. I started with Kosmic Consciousness and think you'd dig that as well.

Consumers with a conscience drink 'fair trade' coffee

2005-10-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a great little article on the trends in "conscious commerce"/"conscious capitalism." Love it.

Consumers with a conscience drink 'fair trade' coffee

"Totaling about a billion dollars per year, registered fair trade remains a drop in the bucket of world trade, about one hundredth of one percent.

Far more impressive is the growth rate of this fledgling commerce with conscience.

Sale of foods stuffs and clothing bearing a label certifying equitable conditions of production shot up more than 40 percent across Europe in 2003. In France -- one of the largest fair trade markets in the world -- and Italy, the jump was 81 and 400 percent respectively, according to an OECD study."

Multitudes and contradictions

2005-10-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

I love this by Whitman:

"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes."

Competition? Nah...just a rising tide...

2005-10-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

I love Seth Godin's recent blog (below) on competition: "Too often, frustrated marketers believe that they'd do better if they just didn't have any competition...

In fact, the proximity effect can work in your favor. It usually does if your product or service is special. The proximity effect gives the consumer confidence. It creates a category where no category existed before. It lets you sell the difference, as opposed to the whole thing."

I often hear people sensitive to the idea of "competition." First, to be clear, I don't even think in those terms. My thoughts: Why compete? Just create and you'll be fine. Express yourself authentically and impeccably, create value for the people you serve and you'll do amazing things.

Furthermore, to Godin's point: let your "competitors" help you build the category. A rising tide lifts all boats, no?

ESPECIALLY within the lifestyles of health and sustainability market/alternative health world. Why in the world an acupuncturist or massage therapist or veggie restaurant would ever worry about competition befuddles me. We need to educate the world about these services!!! The more consumer options (aka "competition") the better.

Fun.

We'll be coming back to this theme and I wanted to make sure I remembered this post:

The proximity effect

By Seth Godin

Imagine a book publisher being upset because her company's books were being shelved right next to competitive books on the same topic...

In fact, books sell far better at bookstores than they do at trade shows or supermarkets or pubs. That's not news to you, I hope.

What about blogs? Blogs are far more read now than they were a few years ago when there were just a few blogs to choose from. And people visiting technorati are far more likely to read and discover a blog than someone who stumbles onto a blog link on, say, eBay.

And tuna? Tuna sells best in the fish store, lying next to the other, lesser fish, on ice.

Too often we're beaten down by comparison shoppers and companies issuing RFPs and commodity buyers who won't take the time to hear our story. Too often, frustrated marketers believe that they'd do better if they just didn't have any competition.

In fact, the proximity effect can work in your favor. It usually does if your product or service is special. The proximity effect gives the consumer confidence. It creates a category where no category existed before. It lets you sell the difference, as opposed to the whole thing.

At a bar, you don't have to sell vodka. You should have to sell why your vodka tells a better story than the other guy's vodka.

Online, this effect is profound. Search engines add value when they present a collection of choices... because your proximity to the "competition" for your reader's attention benefits both of you.

My switch from Amazon to Barnes & Noble

2005-10-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

As part of my own evolution to becoming a more conscious consumer, I recently learned that, according to BuyBlue.org, Amazon and its executives prefer to support Republican campaigns over Democrats (at least for the election cycles before this year).

Well, I don't need my money going there.

So, I'm now a loyal Barnes & Noble customer!!

Woo hoo!

Yours in consciously circulating my wealth.

Bill Moyers on the environment

2005-10-18T01:53:00.000-07:00

The Blind lead the Blind by Bill Moyers

I found the address on this amazing site which states that "The following Keynote Speech was delivered on October 1st, 2005 to the Society of Environmental Journalists at their convention in Austin, Texas. " (thanks to my new friend David for the intro...)

It's long, but WELL worth the read.

In his address, Moyers provides a powerful assault on the current state of environmental consciousness, a pointed attack on our current administration's digusting destruction of our natural resources, the ecological impacts of such action and, ultimately, our responsibility to do something about it.

Read it. Pretty please. It's the best primer you can read by one of our country's most brilliant men.

A few of the more poignant passages:

"President Bush has turned the agencies charged with environmental protection over to people who don't believe in it. To run the Interior Department he chose a long-time defender of polluters who has opposed laws to safeguard wildlife, habitat, and public lands. To run the Forest Service he chose a timber industry lobbyist. To oversee our public lands he named a mining industry lobbyist who believes public lands are unconstitutional. To run the Superfund he chose a woman who made a living advising corporate polluters how to evade the Superfund. And in the White House office of environmental policy the President placed a lobbyist from the American Petroleum Institute whose mission was to make sure the government's scientific reports on global warming didn't contradict the party line and the interest of oil companies. Everywhere you look, the foxes own the chicken coop."

---

"So if the environmental movement is pronounced dead, it won't be from self-inflicted wounds. We don't blame slavery on the slaves, the Trail of Tears on the Cherokees, or the Srebrenica massacre on the bodies in the grave. No, the lethal threat to the environmental movement comes from the predatory power of money and the pathological enmity of rightwing ideology."

---

"Who is left to open the eyes of the country - to tell Americans what is happening? "There is no one left; none but all of us."

All my audio stuff in one convenient place

2005-10-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

Check it.

Meet Your Meat (then stop eating it, pretty please!)

2005-10-17T00:08:00.000-07:00

As Paul McCartney once said, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian."

Here's a site that makes the walls a little more transparent.

Check it out: www.meetyourmeat.com

(I was re-introduced to that link when I was reading a great blog post by Umesh, a Zaadz member and new friend. Thanks, Umesh!)

Props from Rajesh @ Life Beyond Code

2005-10-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

Just got word from some new members of Zaadz/thinkarete that Rajesh Setty recently blogged about us over at lifebeyondcode.com. (Great site, btw.)

Thanks, Rajesh!

---

Philosophy, Wisdom and Inspiration - Cool link

by Rajesh Setty on October 13, 2005 10:19PM (PDT)

My friend Alan Lattener of VenArete Growth Advisors points me to two great sites. Great stuff on philosophy, wisdom and a ton of inspiration. Here they are:

1. ThinkArete
2. Zaadz

Enjoy!

Listen to some of my Notes! (woo hoo!)

2005-10-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

*happy dance*

The guys at LearnOutLoud rock. They just produced the first wave of audio recordings for the little Notes I've written. (And did a great job. Thanks, Jon, Seth and David!)

Here's a sneak peak before we officially put em up on the site:

Business Stuff
* 80/20 Principle
* Writing Your Goals
* Love Is The Killer App
* The One Minute Manager

Philosophy Stuff

* Buddha
* Carlos Castaneda
* Krishna
* Marcus Aurelius
* Rumi
* Seneca
* Socrates

Zaadz Artist

2005-10-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

Speaking of circulating wealth, go check out (and buy!) the amazing art from one of our poster Zaadz members:

BAD! Kitty Art Studio artist blog: Art with A SOUL Saucy Bold Joyful Real

Heather epitomizes the idea of discovering what you're here to do then having the courage and faith and all that good stuff to get paid to do it.

Her art rocks and she has these unbelievably cool things to say about Zaadz:

"Go to http://www.zaadz.com/quotes/ to see where I get a lot of my inspirations...Brian Johnson the modern day guru, is a terrific guy, one of my hero's really, and just a really great HUMAN...well I give his little web site a lot of the credit for three years ago pulling me from the depths of despair and moving me back onto the path. I was so lucky to have found him, and then he was kind enough (later) to befriend me as well. It's only THE best place for finding yourself again. Check it out, and join the community, it's THE most supportive place for inner growth I have ever found."

Blushing from the comments on me and THRILLED about the italicized. That sums up what we're all about: providing a community that inspires and empowers people to get paid to do what they love while giving their greatest strengths to the world.

Go Heather!!!!!

Have I mentioned how excited I am to show you the stuff we're working on?

Fun. :)

Conscious capitalism: an intro

2005-10-13T23:47:00.000-07:00

BuyBlue.org: Vote with your wallet!

Great site that I checked out after the last election. You can search by industry, company, etc. and get an idea of how they treat their people, the environment and where their political donations go. I Just re-acquainted myself with the site as we develop a sort of grassroots "conscious capitalism" concept here at Zaadz.

Main point of our brand of conscious capitalism:
- I contribute to organizations/people/political causes in which I believe.
- I DO NOT circulate my cash to those organizations/people/political cause in which I do not believe.
- Therefore, why would I spend money at places who will use profit from my money to support organizations I would never support?

Hmmm...Doesn't make sense for me to do that. So, I'm choosing to be a more conscious consumer.

Strong recommendation that you consider doing the same thing.

Case in point: I recently blogged: Albertson's Says: Vaginas Are Bad! (Not so) Shockingly, Albertson's is a significant Republican supporter; and more here.

Whole Foods (obviously) and Alpha Beta are much better options if you're interested in consciously channeling your cash to organizations who share your politics.

Bottom line: never forget you're voting with every dollar you spend.

I'll be sharing more of my thoughts on the idea of conscious capitalism over the weeks and months ahead.

Fun.

Self-Reliance & As a Man Thinketh as read by me!

2005-10-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo!

I recently spent quite a bit of time working with my buddy Jon and his awesome crew (nice work, Seth!) over at LearnOutLoud.com to produce an audio version of two of my favorite essays: James Allen's "As a Man Thinketh" and Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance." (Actually, my job was pretty easy: I just sat down in their awesome studio and read a couple of brilliant essays. :)

They're both written in some rough 19th century-ish English, but there are some powerful passages that I think make it worth the listen (and the read).

So, check em out along with other stuff I've written and/or narrated!

Self-Reliance and As a Man Thinketh.

We've got a LOT of other stuff in the pipeline that we'll be releasing soon.

Fun fun fun.

Who says a justice has to have any relevant experience?!?

2005-10-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Hot places in hell

2005-10-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

Found some notes from the RFK documentary I watched awhile ago and thought this quote from it was worth sharing:

"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crises, retained their neutrality."

~ Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
Italian poet & statesman

More quotes about: Crisis, Hell, Time

Are you taking a stand?!?

Good.

Get knocked down? No Problem. Get back up.

2005-10-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Inside the ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong."

~ Muhammad Ali, boxing champion

(Just got that one from one of Brian Tracy's newsletters. Check em out.)

And, Teddy Roosevelt said it another way:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

~ Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
American statesman (26th US president: 1901-09)
from "Man in the Arena" Speech given April 23, 1910

More quotes about: Achievement, Deed, Defeat, Effort, Enthusiasm, Errors, Failure, Soul, Timidity, Victory

A message from Robert Redford about the Arctic Refuge

2005-10-12T23:03:00.000-07:00

The message below, a letter from Robert Redford urging concerned Americans to protest President Bush's plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to massive oil development, was sent to you by Kriss Kevorkian from http://www.nrdcactionfund.org

Dear Friend,

No one voted on Election Day to destroy the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

But President Bush is now claiming a mandate to do exactly that.

Congress will soon cast a decisive vote that could turn America's greatest sanctuary for Arctic wildlife into a vast, polluted oil field.

Even worse, they are evading public debate on this devastating measure by hiding it in the "budget reconciliation" bill.

Please go to http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arcticphotos/photos.asp right now and send a message telling your U.S. senators and representative to reject this sneak attack on the Arctic Refuge.

Don't believe for a second that the president is targeting the Arctic Refuge for the sake of America's energy security or to lower gas prices at the pump.

President Bush knows full well that oil drilled in the Arctic Refuge would take ten years to get to market and would never equal more than a paltry one or two percent of our nation's daily consumption. Simply put, sacrificing the crown jewel of our wildlife heritage would do nothing to reduce gas prices or break our addiction to Persian Gulf oil.

But if the raid on the Arctic Refuge isn't really about gas prices or energy security, then what is it about?

It's the symbolism.

The Arctic Refuge represents everything spectacular and everything endangered about America's natural heritage. It embodies a million years of ecological serenity . . . a vast stretch of pristine wilderness . . . an irreplaceable birthing ground for polar bears, caribou and white wolves.

It is the greatest living reminder that conserving nature in its wild state is a core American value. It stands for every remnant of wilderness that we, as a people, have wisely chosen to protect from the relentless march of bulldozers, chain saws and oil rigs.

And that's why the Bush administration is dead set on destroying it.

By unlocking the Arctic Refuge, they hope to open the door for oil, gas and coal giants to invade our last and best wild places: our western canyonlands, our ancient forests, our coastal waters, even our national monuments.

This is the real agenda behind the raid on the Arctic Refuge and the entire Bush-Cheney energy plan: to transfer our public estate into corporate hands so it can be liquidated for a quick buck.

Tom DeLay (R-TX) admitted as much when he said this battle over the Arctic Refuge is really a fight over whether energy exploration will be allowed in similarly sensitive areas in the future.

"It's about precedent," Rep. DeLay said.

I take him at his word. If we let the president and Congress plunder the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the sake of oil company profits, then no piece of our natural heritage will be safe from wholesale destruction.

Please go to http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arcticphotos/photos.asp and tell your senators and representative to vote against any budget bill that would destroy the Arctic Refuge.

And thank you for speaking out at this critical time.

Sincerely,

Robert Redford

A Polluter's Feast

2005-10-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

If this doesn't piss you off I don't know what can.

From a Rolling Stone article:

A Polluter's Feast: Bush has reversed more environmental progress in the past eight months than Reagan did in a full eight years

What can you say about the environmental record of an administration that seeks to test pesticides on poor children and pregnant women? That argues in court that a dam is part of a salmon's natural environment? That places a timber lobbyist in charge of the national forests and an oil lobbyist in charge of government reports on global warming? That cuts clean-air inspections at oil refineries in half, allows Superfund to go bankrupt and permits the mining industry to pump toxic waste directly into a wild Alaskan lake?

Only this: It's about to get even worse.

The Meatrix

2005-10-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen The Meatrix yet, check it out. :)

Audio Learning Is Cool

2005-10-12T03:25:00.000-07:00

Support a buddy of mine, will ya?!?!

My friend Jon Bischke is the Founder & CEO of LearnOutLoud.com. He needs some help.

Here's his recent blog post:

Help us Change This!

By jbischke on Audio Learning

There's a cool website called ChangeThis.com that I've been a fan of for quite a while. They invite authors to write "manifestos" that propose new ideas and ways of looking at the world. In the past they've had some pretty cool manifestos from the likes of Tom Peters, Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin.

I have a proposal listed on their site right now. It would be a manifesto about audio learning and its ability to revolutionize peoples' lives. If you have a minute (it won't even take a minute), please cast a vote for the proposal at the following URL:

http://www.changethis.com/proposals/545

The more votes the proposal gets, the more likely that it will be turned into a full-blown manifesto.

Thanks in advance for helping to support the Audio Learning Revolution!

Discuss this post in the LOL Forums!

---

So, cruise on over to that site and vote for him!

Then cruise on over to LearnOutLoud.com and check out all the cool stuff he's got goin' on! :)

World Beyond Borders

2005-10-09T17:17:00.000-07:00

Gotta love Native Foods. I just had lunch after a little work out and met Jane--the women who started this great organization: World Beyond Borders. Cool stuff.

Check it out, yo.

Albertson's Says: Vaginas Are Bad!

2005-10-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hah. Just read this article on how Albertson's recently pulled Seventeen magazine b/c it had an article on vaginas (OMIGOD! did I just say "vaginas"?!?) aimed at educating women about their health.

So, it’s OK to have magazines with nearly-naked chicks and directions on how to get in their vaginas, but OMIGOD don’t talk about a woman’s vagina and pubic hair and stuff! (And DEFINITELY don't show colored drawings and a couple of little pictures.)

An Albertson's rep says: "It's the corporation's right to decide what goes on our shelves and what doesn't. They're our stores; we own them."

Good point!

And, it's the consumers' right to decide where we're going to spend our money.

I don't know about you, but out of principle I won't be spending another dollar at Albertson's. As much as I love to imagine how much of my money they'd be able to contribute to the next right wing politician's campaign, I think I'm gonna pass on giving them any mo' of my money.

Go Whole Foods!

I'm going to be coming back to the idea of consciously spending your money with business owners who share your values. In fact, that's at the heart of what we're up to at Zaadz.

And, another OMIGOD!:

OMIGOD! I can't wait to show you the stuff we're gonna start rolling out this month. Fun. Fun. FUN!

Ken Wilber: Integral Naked

2005-10-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

Holy sh*t, Batman!

As I mentioned before, Ken Wilber is a genius.

Check out Integral Naked, an online community/resource/content site where he interviews all kinds of amazing people--from Tony Robbins (the energy between these two in a dialogue is incredible) to Andrew Cohen (the enlightenment teacher and publisher of the great magazine What Is Enlightenment?) to Larry Wachowski (the elder of the two brothers behind The Matrix).

Membership is $10/month and you get access to an archive of INSANELY cool content you can download straight to your iPod and enter nirvana.

Don't walk. Run.

Seriously.

Life is a splendid torch!

2005-10-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations."

~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
British playwright & novelist

More quotes about: Brevity, Community, Complaints, Death, Force, Future, Generations, Happiness, Joy, Life, Nature, Privilege, Purpose, Selfishness, Work, World

Biographies of the Great Ones

2005-10-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a TV plugged in for the better part of the last 7 or 8 years. Recently got one, plugged it in and hooked up the ol' DVD (well, actually a new one) to it. Then signed up for Netflix.

OMIGOD.

Amazing.

Anyhoo, I've been living on a regular diet of biographies. Thought I'd share some of my favorites.

Just watched Tupac: Resurrection. Wow.

Other favorites:

- Tiger Woods (This is a must see--golf fan or not)
- Benjamin Franklin
- Teddy Roosevelt
- Malcolm X (well, not a biography but Spike Lee's genius story)
- RFK
- Einsten
- Fidel Castro
- Napoleon
- When We Were Kings (Ali)

The audacity of these peeps is so ridiculously inspiring.

Other notable selections I highly recommed:

- Guns, Germs and Steel
- The Elegant Universe (OMIGOD! Who woulda thunk string theory could be so cool?!?)
- David Blaine (Fearless)

You got any recommendations for me?!? Thanks in advance. :)

Bono & Sachs: A Lecture on Changing the World

2005-10-09T02:20:00.000-07:00

Brilliant.

March!!!!!!

2005-10-08T00:35:00.000-07:00

Just read this quote from a Tom Peters rant.

---

"In classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, ‘How well he spoke,’ but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said, ‘LET US MARCH.’”
~ Adlai Stevenson

---

My GOD that's hot.

What are you passionate about?!?

What are you here to do with your own precious life?!?

Well, what are you waiting for?!?!

LET US MARCH!!!!

Ken Wilber's a Genius

2005-10-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

For some reason it took me this long to finally get a taste of Ken Wilber.

The man's a genius.

Just listened to Kosmic Consciousness. HIGHLY recommend it.

Will be providing some details once I read some of his stuff.

Amazing.

Protect Organic Standards!

2005-10-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) needs your immediate help to stop Congress and the Bush administration from seriously degrading organic standards. After 35 years of hard work, the

U.S.

organic community has built up a multi-billion dollar alternative to industrial agriculture, based upon strict organic standards and organic community control over modification to these standards.

Now, large corporations such as Kraft & Dean Foods--aided and abetted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), are moving to lower organic standards by allowing a Bush appointee to create a list of synthetic ingredients that would be allowed organic production. Even worse these proposed regulatory changes will reduce future public discussion and input and take away the National Organic Standards Board's (NOSB) traditional lead jurisdiction in setting standards. What this means, in blunt terms. is that USDA bureaucrats and industry lobbyists, not consumers, will now have more control over what can go into organic foods and products.

This week, acting in haste and near-total secrecy, the U.S. Senate will vote on a "rider" to the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that will reduce control over organic standards from the National Standards Board and put this control in the hands of federal bureaucrats in the USDA (remember the USDA proposal in 1997-98 that said that genetic engineering, toxic sludge, and food irradiation would be OK on organic farms, or USDA suggestions in 2004 that heretofore banned pesticides, hormones, tainted feeds, and animal drugs would be OK?).

For the past week in Washington, OCA has been urging members of the Senate not to reopen and subvert the federal statute that governs U.S. Organic standards (the Organic Food Production Act - OFPA), but rather to let the organic community and the National Organic Standards resolve our differences over issues like synthetics and animal feed internally, and then proceed to a open public comment period. Unfortunately most Senators seem to be listening to industry lobbyists more closely than to us. We need to raise our voices.

In the past, grassroots mobilization and mass pressure by organic consumers have been able to stop the USDA and Congress from degrading organic standards. This time Washington insiders tell us that the "fix is is already in." So we must take decisive action now. We need you to call your

U.S.

Senators today. We need you to sign the following petition and send it to everyone you know. We also desperately need funds to head off this attack in the weeks and months to come. Thank you for your support. Together we will take back citizen control over organic standards and preserve organic integrity.

Take action here.

Bet on your ideas! (pretty please)

2005-10-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

I just heard this quote from my friend Dan Millman as we discussed the challenges of getting Zaadz off the ground:

"Often the difference between a successful man and a failure is not one's better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on his ideas, to take a calculated risk--and to act."
~Maxwell Maltz (1899-1975)

So true.

Are you willing to bet on yourself?

Good.

-bri

On Veganism

2005-10-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

As I write a little essay on why I'm vegan, I'm trying to figure out why anyone wouldn't be. I honestly can't imagine how a thinking, aware, compassionate individual couldn't look at what's up and not decide to become vegan...

Anyhoo, here are my four reasons why someone wouldn't be vegan:

1. Lack of awareness. These people just don't know about all the disgusting stuff/suffering that goes on at a factory farm and/or how meat and dairy affect our bodies and/or how consuming the amount of animal products we consume is destroying our environment, etc.

2. Lack of compassion. These people know or have been exposed to the truth but think "hamburgers taste too good to give up" and don't want to look too closely at slaughterhouses b/c it might just force them to change...

3. Lack of courage. These guys and gals know what's up and have some compassion but don't want to offend mom and dad/friends by no longer eating hot dogs at the family barbecue or Turkey at Thanksgiving. I guess it's not easy (?) but come on.

4. Lack of discipline. These people know what they should do, they actually care about their world and want to see less suffering but they don't have the will power to actually create new habits and create a lifestyle that supports what they know to be true...

I've personally been through each of the four reasons, so I speak from experience...

So, I understand #1. If you just don't know, you just don't know. (And, I'm excited to see the surging shift in awareness that's occuring...) But if you're thinking, care about life and strive to match your behaviors with your beliefs, I honestly don't see how you could possibly not adjust your lifestyle.

Am I missing something here?

Laws, Good People and Stuff

2005-10-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, While bad people will find a way around the laws.”
~ Plato (427-347 B.C.)

Cool quote my friend Devlyn shared with me over lunch today during an awesome chat. Thought I'd share.

The times they are a changin'

2005-10-04T22:48:00.000-07:00

Nice work Erica and Co. over at Compassion Over Killing. Nice work.

Federal Trade Commission Announces End to Misleading Egg Logo: Egg Industry to Discontinue Use of "Animal Care Certified" Seal

Monday October 3, 7:43 am ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that the United Egg Producers' (UEP) "Animal Care Certified" logo will no longer be stamped on egg cartons nationwide. This decision ends the egg industry's three-year national advertising campaign that misled consumers concerned about animal cruelty.

The "Animal Care Certified" logo first came under scrutiny in June 2003, when Compassion Over Killing filed petitions with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the FTC, as well as other federal agencies, asserting that the logo is misleading. Under the "Animal Care Certified" guidelines, egg producers are permitted to intensively confine hens in "battery cages" so small they can't even spread their wings, among other abuses.

In 2003, and again upon appeal in 2004, the BBB deemed the "Animal Care Certified" logo misleading because it implied a greater level of humane care than is actually the case. Despite these rulings and the BBB's subsequent referral of the matter to FTC for potential legal action against the UEP, the logo continued to appear on cartons across the country-and consumers continued to be deceived.

According to the FTC, by March 31, 2006, the "Animal Care Certified" logo will be gone from grocery store shelves, and consumers can expect to find it replaced with an alternative logo reading "United Egg Producers Certified."

"This victory is important for both animals and consumers," explains COK Executive Director Erica Meier. "While the egg industry's husbandry guidelines still permit routine animal cruelty, at least the new logo will no longer convey a false message of humane animal care. The industry's next step should be to amend its guidelines to prohibit battery cages."

COK's two-year campaign to expose the truth behind the "Animal Care Certified" logo has included undercover investigations inside certified farms, media exposes, consumer polls and outreach, petitions, as well as the filing of a lawsuit in the District of Columbia Superior Court against two retailers and an egg producer for their continued use of the misleading logo.

Compassion Over Killing (COK) is a nonprofit animal advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Since 1995, COK has worked to end the abuse of animals in agriculture through undercover investigations, public outreach, litigation, and other advocacy programs. On the web at http://www.COK.net.

(Lots of) Awesome Veggie Quotes

2005-10-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Animals are my friends-and I don't eat my friends.
~ George Bernard Shaw

It is the fate of every truth to be an object of ridicule when it is first acclaimed. It was once considered foolish to suppose that black men were really human beings and ought to be treated as such. What was once foolish has now become a recognized truth. Today it is considered as exaggeration to proclaim constant respect for every form of life as being the serious demand of a rational ethic. But the time is coming when people will be amazed that the human race existed so long before it recognized that thoughtless injury to life is incompatible with real ethics. Ethics is in its unqualified form extended responsibility to everything that has life.
~ Albert Schweitzer

The thinking man must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another, even the lowliest creature; to do so is to renounce our manhood and shoulder a guilt which nothing justifies.
~ Albert Schweitzer

A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite.
~ Leo Tolstoy

If he be really and seriously seeking to live a good life, the first thing from which he will abstain will always be the use of animal food, because ...its use is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act which is contrary to the moral feeling - killing.
~ Leo Tolstoy

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
~ Albert Einstein

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
~ Mohandas Gandhi

To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body.
~ Mohandas Gandhi

If man is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practice kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.
~ Immanuel Kant

I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
~ Matthew 5:7

To become vegetarian is to step into the stream which leads to nirvana.
~ Buddha

May all that have life be delivered from suffering.
~ Buddha

One is dearest to God who has no enemies among the living beings, who is nonviolent to all creatures.
~ Bhagavad Gita

A good deed done to an animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is a bad as an act of cruelty to a human being."

~ Prophet Mohammed

Killing animals for sport, for pleasure, for adventure, and for hides and furs is a phenomena which is at once disgusting and distressing. There is no justification in indulging is such acts of brutality.
~ The XLV Dalai Lama

Animals are God's creatures, not human property, nor utilities, nor resources, nor commodities, but precious beings in God's sight. ...Christians whose eyes are fixed on the awfulness of crucifixion are in a special position to understand the awfulness of innocent suffering. The Cross of Christ is God's absolute identification with the weak, the powerless, and the vulnerable, but most of all with unprotected, undefended, innocent suffering.
~ Rev. Andrew Linzey

There were no Slaughterhouses in the Garden of Eden.
~ Unknown

One day the world will look upon research upon animals as it now looks upon research on human beings.
~ Leonardo da Vinci

In all the round world there is no meat. There used to be. But now we cannot stand the thought of slaughterhouses.
~ H.G. Wells from Utopia

Can you really ask what reason Pythagoras had for abstaining from flesh? For my part I rather wonder both by what accident and in what state of soul or mind the first man did so, touched his mouth to gore and brought his lips to the flesh of a dead creature, he who set forth tables of dead, stale bodies and ventured to call food and nourishment the parts that had little before bellowed and cried, moved and lived. How could his eyes endure the slaughter when throats were slit and hides flayed and limbs torn from limb? How could his nose endure the stench? How was it that the pollution did not turn away his taste, which made contact with the sores of others and sucked juices and serums from mortal wounds? It is certainly not lions and wolves that we eat out of self-defense; on the contrary, we ignore these and slaughter harmless,tame creatures without stings or teeth to harm us, creatures that, I swear, Nature appears to have produced for the sake of their beauty and grace. But nothing abashed us, not the flower-like like tinting of the flesh, not the persuasiveness of the harmonious voice, not the cleanliness of their habits or the unusual intelligence that may be found in the poor wretches. No, for the sake of a little flesh we deprive them of sun, of light, of the duration of life to which they are entitled by birth and being.
~ Plutarch

The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of 'real food for real people,' you'd better live real close to a real good hospital.
~ Neal D. Barnard, M.D

People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times.
~ Isaac Singer

Cruelty to dumb animals is one of the distinguishing vices of low and base minds. Wherever it is found, it is a certain mark of ignorance and meanness; a mark which all the external advantages of wealth, splendour, and nobility, cannot obliterate. It is consistent neither with learning nor true civility.
~ William Jones

What is it that should trace the insuperable line? ...The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
~ Jeremy Bentham

I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't...The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further.
~ Mark Twain

Atrocities are not less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called medical research.
~ George Bernard Shaw

Human beings are the only animals of which I am thoroughly and cravenly afraid.
~ George Bernard Shaw

The average age (longevity) of a meat eater is 63. I am on the verge of 85 and still work as hard as ever. I have lived quite long enough and am trying to die; but I simply cannot do it. A single beef-steak would finish me; but I cannot bring myself to swallow it. I am oppressed with a dread of living forever. That is the only disadvantage of vegetarianism.
~ George Bernard Shaw

You're thinking I'm one of those wise-ass California vegetarians who is going to tell you that eating a few strips of bacon is bad for your health. I'm not. I say its a free country and you should be able to kill yourself at any rate you choose, as long as your cold dead body is not blocking my driveway.
~ Scott Adams (Dilbert)

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian. We feel better about ourselves and better about the animals, knowing we're not contributing to their pain.
~ Paul and Linda McCartney

The medical argument for animal testing doesn't stand up. Even if it did, I don't think we should kill other species. We think we're so much better; I'm not sure we are. I tell people, We've beaten into submission every animal on the face of the Earth, so we are the clear winners of whatever battle is going on between the species. Couldn't we be generous? I really do think it's time to get nice. No need to keep beating up on them. I think we've got to show that we're kind.
~ Paul McCartney

How can you eat anything with eyes?
~ Will Kellogg

You ask people why they have deer heads on the wall. They always say, “Because it's such a beautiful animal.” There you go. I think my mother's attractive, but I have photographs of her.
~ Ellen DeGeneres

People get offended by animal rights campaigns. It's ludicrous. It's not as bad as mass animal death in a factory.
~ Richard Gere

There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is.
~ Isaac Bashevis Singer

We consume the carcasses of creatures of like appetites, passions and organs with our own, and fill the slaughterhouses daily with screams of pain and fear.
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I think there will come a time, and this is down the road a great many years, when civilized people will look back in horror on our generation and the ones that have preceded it: the idea that we should eat other living things running around on four legs, that we should raise them just for the purpose of killing them! The people of the future will say, meat-eaters in disgust and regard us in the same way that we regard cannibals and cannibalism.
~ Dennis Weaver

Animal factories are one more sign of the extent to which our technological capacities have advanced faster than our ethics.
~ Peter Singer

I don't understand why asking people to eat a well-balanced vegetarian diet is considered drastic, while it is medically conservative to cut people open and put them on cholesterol-lowering drugs for the rest of their lives.
~ Dean Ornish, MD

It is only by softening and disguising dead flesh by culinary preparation, that it is rendered susceptible of mastication or digestion; and that the sight of its bloody juices and raw horror does not excite intolerable loathing and disgust.
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Your choice of diet can influence your long term health prospects more than any other action you might take.
~ Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop

You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a new car.
~ Harvey Diamond

Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.
~ Froude

When we kill animals to eat them they end up killing us because their flesh...was never intended for human beings, who are naturally herbivores.
~ William C. Roberts, M.D

If you look at the course of western history you'll see that we're slowly granting basic rights to everyone. A long time ago only kings had rights. Then rights were extended to property-owning white men. Then all men. Then women. Then children. Then the mentally retarded. Now we're agonizing over the extension of basic rights to homosexuals and animals. We need to finally accept that all sentient creatures are deserving of basic rights. I define basic rights as this --the ability to pursue life without having someone else's will involuntarily forced upon you. Or, as the framers of the constitution put it, the ability to have "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." By what criteria can you justify denying basic rights to any living thing? Realize that by whatever criteria you employ someone could deny basic rights to you if they objected to your species, sexual preferences, color, religion, ideology etc. Would you eat your housecat, or force a mentally retarded child to ingest oven cleaner? If not, then why is it ok to eat cows and test products on sentient animals? I believe that to knowingly commit actions that cause or condone suffering is reprehensible in the extreme. I call upon you to be compassionate and treat others as you want to be treated. If you don't want to be beaten, imprisoned, mutilated, killed or tortured then you shouldn't condone such behavior towards anyone, be they human or not.
~ Moby

To be a vegetarian is to disagree---to disagree with the course of things today. Starvation, world hunger, cruelty, waste, wars---we must make a statement against these things. Vegetarianism is my statement. And I think it's a strong one.
~ Isaac Bashevis Singer

Vegetarians always ask about getting enough protein. But I don't know any nutrition expert who can plan a diet of natural foods resulting in a protein deficiency, so long as you're not deficient in calories. You need only 5 or 6 percent of total calories in protein... and it is practically impossible to get below 9 percent in ordinary diets.
~ Nathan Pritikin

The person who is afraid to alter his living habits, and especially his eating and drinking habits, because he is afraid that other persons may regard him as queer, eccentric, or fanatic forgets that the ownership of his body, the responsibility for its well-being, belongs to him, not them.
~ Dr. Paul Brunton

The standard four food groups are based on American agricultural lobbies. Why do we have a milk group? Because we have a National Dairy Council. Why do we have a meat group? Because we have an extremely powerful meat lobby.
~ Marion Nestle

An important fact to remember is that all natural diets, including purely vegetarian diets without a hint of dairy products, contain amounts of calcium that are above the threshold for meeting your nutritional needs....In fact, calcium deficiency caused by an insufficient amount if calcium in the diet is not known to occur in humans.
~ John McDougall

When you see the golden arches you are probably on your way to the pearly gates.
~ William Castelli, M.D.

I don't have any understanding of a human being who doesn't respect the beauty of life and that goes for all creatures that have thoughts, feelings and needs.
~ Alicia Silverstone

I know what it feels like to be hurt, and I don't want to cause that pain to any other person or creature. But somehow, in society, we numb ourselves in order to make money or to feel better about ourselves, such as with cosmetics or food. We say to ourselves, I'm going to use this animal. I'm going to say it doesn't have much worth so that I can allow myself to do these cruel things. And that just isn't fair.
~ Alicia Silverstone

Not that I say, "Oh, I'm not going to associate with certain people," but I have my world, and I only want to be around people who I feel stimulated by. I have to be honest I do have a new quest: I want to meet more vegetarians, people who are more like minded. There's something real neat about that feeling. It makes you feel so settled to know there's somebody else sitting right there, being so passionate about what I'm passionate about. I don't want to be around selfish people. I try to keep myself surrounded by deep people who will move me.
~ Alicia Silverstone

Nothing's changed my life more. I feel better about myself as a person, being conscious and responsible for my actions and I lost weight and my skin cleared up and I got bright eyes and I just became stronger and healthier and happier. Can't think of anything better in the world to be but be vegan.
~ Alicia Silverstone

I'm a big health food freak and a vegetarian devotee.
~ Chelsea Clinton

We don't live the lives of Eskimos. We don't need to kill animals for fashion.
~ Charlize Theron

The person I love would never wear fur. Fur just makes me think of shallow women who have no conscience. The fur industry belongs to a time when people were selfish beyond belief. If you were some ancient tribal chieftain, and there was not a department store nearby 350 years ago, I'd understand. But now, we have synthetic fibers, and it's not necessary. The elitism of fur makes me wanna puke.
~ Gavin Rossdale

I've been vegan for about 10 and a half years. It's been all good. I'm obviously much healthier
~ Woody Harrelson

I take vitamins daily, but just the bare essentials not what you'd call supplements. I try to stick to a vegan diet heavy on fruit, vegetables, tofu, and other soy products.
~ Clint Eastwood

MLK on True Compassion

2005-10-01T01:31:00.000-07:00

"True Compassion is more than throwing a coin to a beggar. It demands of our humanity that if we live in a society that produces beggars, we are morally commanded to restructure that society."

~ Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968)
American civil rights leader, clergyman, youngest recipient of Nobel Peace Prize in 1964

(thanks, Jill, for the awesome quote. :)

Edison, Opportunity & Overalls

2005-09-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

Just got this from a friend. Genius:

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls, and looks like work."

~ Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
American inventor & industrialist

More quotes about: Opportunity, People, Work

Compassion Over Killing

2005-09-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

Check out this commercial being aired on MTV by Compassion over Killing.

Learn more about vegetarianism at GoVeg.com.

Obesity, children and Micky-D's

2005-09-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hah. Gotta love that.

I can't wait to see the HUGE shift that's going to occur in the quick-serve restaurant business. I honestly don't think McD's, Burger King, Carl's Jr., etc. will exist (at least not in their current form) within 5-15 years. They simply can't. We can't afford to pay for the disease and sickness that is created as a result of their success. At the very least, their menus are going to be radically different. (I'm still blown away by the fact McD's no longer has super size options and profiles a salad on their menu and fruit in the happy meal...)

In any case, join me in supporting my friends who own some of my favorite restaurants and help them expand: from Native Foods (Westwood, Costa Mesa & Palm Springs, California) to Leaf Cuisine (Culver City, CA) to Zen Palate (NYC).

Fun fun fun!

(Thanks to Seth Godin for blogging about this.)

Roosevelt on Sweat and Timid Souls

2005-09-26T23:38:00.000-07:00

One of my absolute favorite thoughts:

~ Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
American statesman (26th US president: 1901-09)
from "Man in the Arena" Speech given April 23, 1910

More quotes about: Achievement, Deed, Defeat, Effort, Enthusiasm, Errors, Failure, Soul, Timidity, Victory

And, thanks to my friend Olukunle for telling me about this site where you can read the speech from which this quote was lifted.

Edison & Astounding Ourselves

2005-09-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

Just a friendly reminder...

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

~ Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
American inventor & industrialist

[Astound yourself today, this year, this lifetime. (Pretty please. Thanks.)]

Kerry on Katrina

2005-09-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

From a little speech John Kerry gave at Brown University:

The Katrina Administration

Katrina is a symbol of all this administration does and doesn't do. Michael Brown -- or Brownie as the President so famously thanked him for doing a heck of a job -- Brownie is to Katrina what Paul Bremer is to peace in Iraq; what George Tenet is to slam dunk intelligence; what Paul Wolfowitz is to parades paved with flowers in Baghdad; what Dick Cheney is to visionary energy policy; what Donald Rumsfeld is to basic war planning; what Tom Delay is to ethics; and what George Bush is to "Mission Accomplished" and "Wanted Dead or Alive." The bottom line is simple: the "we'll do whatever it takes" administration doesn't have what it takes to get the job done.

This is the Katrina administration.

The Real Test of Katrina

This is the real test of Katrina. Will we be satisfied to only do the immediate: care for the victims and rebuild the city? Or will we be inspired to tackle the incompetence that left us so unprepared, and the societal injustice that left so many of the least fortunate waiting and praying on those rooftops?

Fox Brings Us Breaking News on Bush

2005-09-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

Going raw: Better for your body?

2005-09-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Interesting article: Going raw: Better for your body?

Hmmm...after posting that article, I noticed the URL starts with "http://acidreflux.msn.com/"

Apparently that section on MSN is sponsored by "Nexium"--a magical purple pill that cures heartburn. So, I checked out another artcle: "What is GERD? Often perceived as heartburn, this chronic condition needs treatment to prevent complications"

It's ALMOST funny to read that artcle. Again, it's straight out of the book I just blogged about called "Selling Sickness."

First, we get the scary statistics: "Millions affected: Statistics on the incidence of heartburn and GERD vary. According to some estimates, 7 percent of Americans have heartburn daily and 14 percent have it at least once a week. Other figures suggest that GERD affects about 20 percent of the adult population in the United States, mostly those in their 40s or older. However, it can affect people of all ages, including children."

Then, we don't even get ONE mention of the fact that the simplest way to stop acid reflux is to quit eating the toxic shit that's CAUSING the reflux. Apparently the only solution is to buy more of their purple pills.

What a wonderful service that company is providing the world, eh?

Grrrr...

The Mad Cowboy

2005-09-15T23:42:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a screening of the new documentary featuring the Mad Cowboy, Howard Lyman.

Amazing. And, another frightening reminder of just how unaware we all are about what's going on in Factory Farms around the US. Disgusting...

Take a trip to a slaughterhouse to see one of the 10 BILLION animals killed in the US each year and I don't think you'd be eating much meat. But alas, we're all so far from the process that we can just keep on eating our hamburgers and chicken wings and not think anything of it...

But, the times are changing...

Take a trip over to the Mad Cowboy's site and enjoy some of the following:

WELCOME! This website is about Howard Lyman (4th generation cattle rancher and vegan), his inspiring life, the Oprah Trial, the filming of the "Mad Cowboy" Feature Documentary, the book "Mad Cowboy," Voice for a Viable Future, his speaking schedule, and over 350 REFERENCED FACTOIDS for anyone to use about Mad Cow Disease, Vegetarianism, the Environment, Human Health, and Animal Rights.

Selling Sickness: How the World’s Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All Into Patients

2005-09-15T23:22:00.000-07:00

Just read this article: Adult use of ADHD medicines surges and had to laugh...one of those, "My God, it's really time to do something about this nonsense" kind of laughs...

The article is essentially a page out of the new book "Selling Sickness: How the World’s Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All Into Patients." If you haven't read it, I HIGHLY recommend it...

From the front flap of the book:

"Thirty years ago, Henry Gadsen, the head of Merck, one of the world's largest drug companies, told Fortune magazine that he wanted Merck to be more like chewing gum maker Wrigley's. It had long been his dream, he said, to make drugs for healthy people--so that Merck could "sell to everyone."

Gadsen's dream now drives the marketing machinery of the most profitable industry on earth.

Using their dominating influence in the world of medical science, drug companies are systematically working to widen the very boundaries that define illness. Old conditions are expanded, new ones created, and the markets for medication grow ever larger. Mild problems are redefined as serious illness and common complaints are labeled as medical conditions requiring drug treatments. Runny noses are now allergic rhinitis, PMS has become a psychiatric disorder, and hyperactive children have ADD. When it comes to conditions like high cholesterol or low bone density, being "at risk" is sold as disease in its own right.

Selling Sickness reveals how widening the boundaries of illness and lowering the threshold for treatments is creating millions of new patients and billions in new profits, in turn threatening to bankrupt health-care systems all over the world. As morea nd more of ordinary life becomes medicalized, the industry moves ever closer to Gadsen's dream: "selling to everyone."

Definitely time for us all to WAKE UP!!!!

Here's another article on the subject of Selling Sickness to the Well that you might enjoy...

Astronomy Picture of the Day

2005-09-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

If you ever want to get perspective on your life, check out the "Astronomy Picture of the Day."

Amazing stuff.

(Thanks to Wil, one of the awesome community leaders over at the Zaadz community boards, for introducing me to that site...)

Wanna Live Longer?

2005-09-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

Check this article out.

Forbes 10 ways to live longer

Click on the links for more information.

Eat your antioxidants

Marry well

Source: Forbes.com

Risking Going Too Far...

2005-09-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

~ T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
British-American poet & critic

More quotes about: Risk

PETA 25th Anniversary Gala

2005-09-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

I volunteered last night at the 25th anniversary of PETA gala to help out my friend Tanya from Native Foods. Amazing event and a lot of fun.

Met some awesome people who are up to some incredible stuff within the vegan/animal rights/social activism world. Here's a quick shout out to a few who are involved in organizations you might like to learn more about:

Nathan Runkle, the founder of Mercy for Animals: Nathan won an award last night for the work he's been doing since he was FIFTEEN (!) years old. Check it out and get involved.
If you're in the bay area, you should definitely check out the Bay Area Vegetarians group. I met the co-founders, Tammy and Chris who are awesome.
And, we can't forget the lovely ladies from Vegan Vixens. Vegan and hot hot hot hot hot. And funny. Check em out here.