I think he's saying that the world isn't going to reduce emissions any time soon. By the time we're ready to do something the only option will be to scrub the atmosphere.

I reserve (the irrational) hope that any minute now a mass precipitation of environmental consciousness will occur and cause the changes in lifestyle necessary to prevent environmental catastrophe.

That or crippling economic collapse.

I notice a lot of people saying that since Dan might have been squatting it was OK for the police to conduct this raid.

Squatting is not, in itself, illegal. The applicable law is trespassing but the police can not enforce trespassing unless they receive a request to do so from the property owner or a representative of the owner.

It's fairly obvious that this is not what happened (considering the owner was the one arrested for trespassing).

OMFG!!! That's my friend dan! This is so absurd. The article says the police thought they were trying to build a bunker on the roof. Ok if by bunker, you mean awesome green house and gray water recycling shower.

@mgfarrelly -- I think you might be missing the point of John Lydon's critique of punk. I think he actually was holding up a punk measuring stick -- he said there's more to punk than just listening to music, going to shows and dressing the look.

While punk music can sell cars, punk culture has a long history of anti-consumerism (do it yourself). So yes, we can all have our own hyphen-punk music and still have enormous differences.

So if you feel like me (mason-punks, huh?), I would suggest that we're reading "punk culture" when we should be reading "punk music". I'm sure the Boston Herald doesn't see the difference between culture and it's co-opted musical expressions. That's probably what bothers me because this isn't the punk culture I experienced.

This confusion is probably true for any young culture with just enough history to have evolved. How many fans of modern hip hop know "the four elements" (MCing, DJing, breakdancing and graffiti)? As things change, those of us who remember how things were get crotchety and say things like "back in my day punks opposed authority, religion and sexism" when things change.

As for Bad Religion and the Masons, whatever. I was turned on to the Dead Kennedys by a Mormon. That doesn't mean the Mormons and the Dead Kennedys share most of their values.

"DIY Punks" joining a fraternity, submitting to a higher power and excluding women. Weird. Ain't no punk I ever knew. If anyone wants to engage a social group and extend in charity, another option would be to check out (or start) your local food not bombs. They're also everywhere, inclusive and the rituals are useful in daily life (how to cook). Starting a chapter with friends is easy, recruiting help on craigslist even easier.

Although some lodges would make decent venues, alternatives do exist for your DIY entertainment. My favorite DIY venue was a community center for the blind. On top of a refundable deposit, we would give them a percentage of the door and clean everything.

This year they're going down the Hudson.

(have fun Ashira!)

I though it might be potato but every potato plant I've ever seen had compound leaves. It could be a weed -- Datura grows wild in the area.

Be careful about picking unknown stuff and eating it. I agree with #34 Gabrielm, it's probably a nightshade and most nightshades contain toxins which have to be dealt with through cooking or avoiding certain parts of the plant.

Burdock sounds reasonable but it also looks like it could be a variety of eggplant. I'd be more sure if the flowers in pic 1 were blooming (eggplant has five pointed purple or white flowers whose petals are joined together).

It's definitely not a green or chard. This plant has hairs on the leaves, chard and greens (kale, collards, etc) have smooth leaves which grow on stems longer and broader than those in the pictures.

BTW, Your soil looks like it could use a little help. I highly recommend sheet mulching in the fall to kill off the weeds -- a few layers of mulch and newspaper/cardboard on top of the weeds (especially the bermuda grass) will starve weeds of light and the barrier of cardboard/newspaper will prevent the plants from reaching the light. By spring the barriers have become soil.

You can add mulch any time. I just spread it on top of the soil and plant directly in the mulch. If your soil is like mine, it's at least mildly hydrophobic (got mine tested at Wallace Laboratories http://www.bettersoils.com/). Mulch helps hold the moisture in place until it can penetrate the soil.

I got mulch (in the Los Angeles area) from this guy Tim Dundon. $80 will get you a dumptruck full of composted horse bedding (mulch, horse manure and urine). http://www.2doo.com/ It's really amazing stuff. I didn't believe that things would really grow in just a mix of shredded trees and horse excrement. But they do and really well.

I have also had great success this year trellising, with rope and various junk, my squash plants. Usually with squash, it's a constant battle with fungus (doing it all organic) but it seems that if the plants aren't sitting on the ground they stay healthier.

gardens are rad.

@Alexis
Check out the links at the bottom of my other post -- these sorts of rides happen nearly every day of the week on surface streets across Los Angeles. But they don't make the local news or instigate hundreds of discussions (online and off) about the bicycle's place as transportation.

I think we can agree that while asshole drivers are a far more common sight, asshole cyclists do exist.

But it's easy to ignore and forget how many cyclists quietly stay to the right and obey the lights.

We remember unexpected things, including bad examples, and we talk about them. No one ever says "I drove home today and passed ten unexceptional cyclists scattered throughout my commute." But when you do something unexpected (legal or not) you get attention. Sure it's a dangerous way to get attention but they're not risking anyone's life but their own.

The fact that we're all talking about this and it's been on the local news and no one got hurt tells me it worked.

This stunt didn't turn any cyclists into drivers but I would be surprised if all this buzz didn't bring a few drivers to the fun side (even if it isn't you).

If you live in LA, come for a ride. The second friday of the month midnight ridazz is the classic awesome ride
http://midnightridazz.com
http://calendar.bikeboom.com

It's about 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. During rush hour that drive takes about an hour.

15 mph on a bike is easy.

that setup looks like it can only accommodate one retrieval at a time. imagine if the "garage" was full. 23 seconds adds up when there are 5 people in front of you.

i think a rider could unlock from a pole in a parking garage and ride out in under 30 seconds.

If it's not already patented... coin operated light switch. My dad used to go on about how every light that gets turned off saves a nickel every. Illustrate by requiring regular deposits of 5 cents for continued illumination.

wow, uncle sam's phallus of prosperity showering wealth on the poor in link 9! was there really a time when people wouldn't snicker at that?

the jim rose sideshow did something like this in the early 90s, but with a person inside the bag. of course to a 14 year old, "don't try this at home" means "you gotta try this!!" who knew a 100 gallon leaf bag plus a 40 gallon shop-vac could produce such a thrill. it's almost safe if you suck the air out of the bag with only your body in the bag (your head outside, under standard pressure). but we never thought of that.

it seems improbable, but contact lenses work very well at keeping the onion fumes from bringing the tears.

"Democracy will be dead by 1950.
John Langdon-Davies, A Short History of The Future, 1936. "

i think by some definitions of democracy (those involving fair, competitive elections) this prediction didn't fail.

whatever, it's not metric.

phasor3000, you call that a rebuttal? though the author, tom redburn, makes it clear he disagrees with the book he makes no effort to demonstrate that any of her points were wrong. redburn condenses and interprets klein's core message, acknowledges some truth, then spends most of the rest of the article feebly defending milton friedman. it seemed like redburn basically agreed with klein's points but he felt she went too far. but again, he doesn't address anything she wrote.

eventually, he sets up a strawman that she is opposed to entrepreneurial capitalism. but she believes in a mixed economy, capitalism along side government. that the market is not the solution to everything. that fundamentalist capitalists are just as bad as any other fundamentalist.

this interview with klein is pretty good.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=13725

FWIW, I too have traveled with odd improvised light devices but I didn't get much hassle. I live in Los Angeles and ride a bike everywhere. Last year for thanksgiving, I flew out of long beach airport. My improvised blinky light consisting of a circuit board, two AA batteries, six red LEDs and a few other components was left on my backpack as I passed through security. The TSA guy asked what was hanging off my bike, I showed him it's my blinky light for cycling safety. We proceeded to chat about bikes and the price of gas for a second while he searched my bag (and confiscated my toothpaste) and then sent me on my way.

what was that about a ban on elephant hunting is bad for elephants? i listened to the mp3 but didn't buy the book. the arguments i heard were very much based on logic. which is to say, unrealistic.

I noticed a few sculptures in a similar style in the windows of an otherwise empty downtown LA gallery a few weeks ago. Anyone in the area maybe you could snap some pics? It was on the north side of 6th, between broadway and los angeles streets. There was darth vader and two predators, i think. each maybe 7 ft tall.

I love sonic.net. they are a great independent DSL provider. i've been a customer for over a year. all of their connection packages include a unix shell account, vpn termination, a firewall, mailing lists along with all the other industry standard features.