In a move that would make Gargamel, Dr. Evil, and Auric Goldfinger proud Monsanto has bought one of the leading bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) research groups, Beeologics, in an apparent effort to cover their sizable tracks and, of course, take over the world.

Monsanto’s genetically modified (GMOs) crops have long been a prime suspect in the rapid decline of bee colonies around the world.  Beeologics was “an international firm dedicated to restoring bee health and protecting the future of insect pollination.” Now they’re… Read Full Article on Celsias

I was about to jump the border.  At the last minute I got the opportunity to work and live in Europe for the summer. It was a chance to work on a children’s book (8-12 year old age group) that I had conceived 5 years ago and had outlined in full and started the previous year.

Between brushing up on my Spanish, rehabbing injuries sustained when I was hit by a drunk driver in April, finding and packing sensible walking shoes, regular work stuff, lining up someone to take care of my US stuff, and going to play rehearsal for my play Things Unsaid opening in NoHo with one of the best casts ever – I was swamped.

Then…

I found out that NOH8 was doing one of their famous photo shoots in Long Beach, CA about 30 minutes from my house only days before I left town! Must do!

“The NOH8 Campaign is a charitable organization whose mission is to promote marriage, gender and human equality through education, advocacy, social media, and visual protest.”

I’m always big on education as a method of social change, but the truly unique driving force behind this organization is the visual protest i.e. picture campaign launched by celeb photographer Adam Bouska and his partner Jeff Parshley.

In 2008 California adopted a hard line against marriage equality when Proposition 8 amended the California constitution to ban same sex marriage.

“The NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths, symbolizing their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the world.”

This is how the photo shoot worked.  Wearing white (required!) I showed up about 30 minutes early so I was one of the first people in line. (No, cutting corners for you people – I want to experience what you guys will experience, so I stand my ass in line – word!). I filled out a photograph release form, and paid ($40 donation) for Adam to take a few shots. Next a NOH8 temporary tattoo was plastered to my cheek, and finally the emblematic/nerve racking silver duct tape is placed over your mouth. Awkward.  Claustrophobics beware. Then I stood in front of Adam on a white background and he told me how to pose aka what looks best. He picks the winning photo and airbrushes it, so no worries about looking pretty. 6 to 8 weeks later you get your photo.

This is volunteering, in that, you’re taking time out of your day to show up and show support, and it’s also a donation $40.

Now I’m pounding back green tea and Jacob’s Cream Crackers every morning, working on my book, and procrastinating by checking to see if the picture has come back yet.  They said 6 to 8 weeks, but you never know….

The NOH8 Campaign is an inventive and fun way to raise money for a good cause.  In the wake of North Carolina’s decision to ban same sex marriage this month more work clearly needs to be done for equality.

* My NOH8 pic isn’t ready yet so instead here’s a pic of me outside a conveniently named pub.

I, like many nerds, discovered the possibility of thorium as a nuclear fuel from acomplex documentary starring thorium fanatic, NASA scientist, and brain-trust Kirk Sorensen.  You’d have to have a doctorate in physics to break down all the information Sorensen spews, but here’s what makes thorium exciting as a possible “clean” nuclear energy source:

Thorium, named after the Norse god of thunder Thor, is plentiful in the earths crust, burns almost completely in a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR), which is orders of magnitude safer than the uranium reactor, and it is also capable of burning spent nuclear waste.

How plentiful is thorium? A cubic meter of…Full Celsias Article

(And get over Kelley Blue Book)

I’m not a big car person. Just don’t care. Wish I didn’t have to drive one. A car is the last thing I ever want to think about.

That being said, I should never be allowed to write anything about a car. However, I did manage to sell one, on fire, for over Kelly Blue Book. So maybe I deserve a page or two?

Regardless of the fire, the fact that I was able to sell this particular P.O.S. for over Blue Book is amazing. I had driven the thing (for to call it a car was laughable) into the ground. Among the most endearing features my 12 year old black Honda CRV were: a broken interior light from a run in with a surfboard, a missing back mud flap that fell off in the Mojave desert, coffee and soda stains that actually gave the seats their color, and a shaking/gasping/coughing transmission.

For those not in the know – in 2000 the Honda engineers, while designing transmissions, wandered into a field of red poppies and fell asleep.

The CRV was in bad shape, but I loved that worry free car. Like a really heinous date no one was ever going to try and steal it. If it wasn’t for fear of damage to my person I would have left the keys on the roof every night so I wouldn’t risk losing them in the apartment.

When the CRV finally reached the point where sale was the only humane option I reluctantly slid behind the wheel to drive the car to Auto Sales R Us*.

I was a mile from the dealer when I noticed smoke during a pause in the song I was singing to. Quickly, pulling over I debated what to do. Mmmmm… Call my brother. He loves cars.

Brother: What did you do?

Me: Hi, to you too.

Brother: What’s wrong?

Me: Why does something have to be wrong?

Brother: It’s the middle of the day and you’re wining.

Me: The cars on fire.

Brother: I knew it. How could it not be.

Me: Come on.

Brother: What color’s the smoke?

Me: White.

Brother: Where’s it coming from?

Me: Probably the engine.

Brother: Pop the damn hood!

Me: I can’t it’s stuck.

Brother: Well, that’s not good. What does the smoke smell like?

Me: CREED Jardin D’Amalfi. What do you think it smells like?

Brother: Fine. Is it a lot?

Me: No.

Brother: How far are you from your location?

Me: Less than a mile. (pause) Downhill.

Brother: I’m willing to risk it. Coast. Use your emergency flashers.

Me: Thanks for your expertise Brain Storm.

Brother: Stop calling me during the day. It’s weird. (Click)

10 minutes later I rolled into Auto Sales R Us’ and parked within view of the sales office. Smoke was now rolling from under the hood. Great. To the sales office…

But now I was loose. I honestly had nothing to lose unless they charged me for parking it on their property. $10 would probably be a fair price.

Receptionist: Can I help you?

Me: I need to sell a car.

Receptionist: Is the car here.

Me: Yes.

Receptionist: Is it in the lot?

Me: Yup.

Reception: Okay which one is it (tries to look around me).

Me: I don’t want to say it’s the one on fire behind me. But it’s the one on fire behind me.

She rolled her eyes and picked up the phone like this happens at least twice a day.

Receptionist: Can I get an appraiser to the front desk?

After evaluating and appraising the car the inspector asked me if he could talk me through some salient point before giving me a price.

Sure.

Inspector: The car has well over 100,000 miles.

Me: Yup.

Inspector: And it’s over ten years old.

Me: Yup.

He pops the hood.

Inspector: If you look through the smoke here, by the way it was on fire, you see a crack in the engine.

Me: Caught that.

Inspector: I mean you’re really not going to get a better price than we’re going to pay you. Anywhere. I mean I would take whatever the salesman offers you.

Cue chipper salesman who slips up behind me – waiting for his moment.

Me: I completely agree. I mean the only other thing I could do was scrap it and of course I know the price for that.

Inspector and salesman look at each other.

Me: Yeah, big money.

They cracked up, then offered me over scrap and over Kelley Blue Book. I think the moral of the story is – always operate like you have nothing to lose and know how much it is to scrap a car.

It’s a shame my little car had to go in such a manner, but she did leave me with a great tale, and that just proves how well she knew me.

*Named changed because blah blah blah

“The Island President” is that rare film, which is as effective an enviro-political documentary as tourism video.

Wandering into the theatre to see the tale of former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed , and his fight to save his nation from rising sea levels, I left with a burning desire to spend a week on one of the Maldives ’ quickly eroding white sand beaches.  Soon, it might be impossible to visit this stunning archipelago in the Indian Ocean; the islands are disappearing due to rapidly rising sea levels, a result of climate change.

Opening on the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference or COP15 “The Island President” follows Nasheed as he tries to convince the world to cut carbon dioxide levels to the scientifically recommended 350 parts per million .  The current level of atmospheric CO2 is 392 ppm.  Elevated temperature and changing weather patterns around the low-lying Maldives has already caused large amounts of land loss. Well-spoken and charismatic during the conference, Nasheed faced opposition from… Read More

Do you like video games?  Do you want to volunteer but don’t want to leave the couch?

Great! I have an activity for you. Go to www.FreeRice.com

FreeRice.com is the Official Winner* of:

• Volunteering Made Easy
• Best Way to Stay Seated and Volunteer
• I Made the World A Better Place While Procrastinating at Work
• Can I Report These Community Service Hours to My Parole Officer?

And possibly…

• The Palme d’Or **

All kidding aside – go play any of the fun trivia games on FreeRice.com. I am partial to the original vocabulary game.

For every right answer FreeRice.com gives 10 grains of rice to The World Food Programme. 10 grains might not seem like a lot but it adds up.  To date they’ve donated almost 100 billion grains. They’re around 95 billion – time to pitch in and help reach a big even number.

I’ve been playing FreeRice for years and can’t believe I never thought of it as volunteering, but now that I’ve done 70 different volunteer activities – this totally counts.

Make yourself smart. There’s an SAT prep game for High School Kids! Feed The Hungry! JUST DO IT !!!!!!

*Made up categories by TheGoodMuse

** Not confirmed

Santa Monica, CA introduces the world’s first runoff recycling facility and then, never ignoring a cross promotional opportunity, names it the SMURRF.  SMURRF = Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility. Its primary function is to eliminate pollution in Santa Monica Bay caused by urban runoff. The state of the art facility catches and cleans an average of 500,000 gallons of dry weather runoff caused by sprinklers, care washes, spills, pool draining, construction sites, etc.

Santa Monica Bay and many of the beaches along the California coast are plagued by… (Read More)