Anticipating biodiversity in the car spaces of yesteryear (or, CARtesian idiocy momentarily renewed)

Yesterday I received this strange email from a project manager acting on behalf of the university where I'm conducting research:

Dear Students,

Over a 10 week period commencing Wednesday 23 February 2011, 200 additional car park bays will be constructed on the southern side of the P4 car park on B campus. During this time, a small section of the P4 car park will be fenced off as part of the construction site.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and ask for your patience and understanding while the works are carried out to extend the P4 car park.

Regards

Neil H
A/Senior Manager
Major Projects
Capital Works and Facilities

The strangeness of this email prompted me to respond immediately, as such:

dear neil,

200 additional car park bays?

we're entering a period of permanent expensive oil as this resource has peaked and entered decline.

any construction based around the car is twentieth century thinking, wasteful and is heading in the entirely wrong direction.

cld you pls let me know what public transport and bike infrastructure works the university is currently developing.

university buses with the ability to carry bikes is now urgently required to cope with today's economy.

it is simply not good enough for a progressive university to be making provisions for regressive and polluting technologies.

many thanks,
patrick (doctoral student, b campus)

As chance would have it, my friend Ianian sent me this image today of a parking lot at one of the abandoned car factories in Flint, Michigan:

Image: Wes Janz. His accompanying essay can be read here.

"Speaks volumes," said my friend.

I look forward to Neil's reply and the chance to respond to him with this image, alone, because what else can one say?

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Old School Economics Continues to Fuel Brave New Climate

On ABC News 24 this morning I listened to the mayor of Cairns give a report on the devastation caused by Cyclone Yasi. She finished with an advertisement-cum-plea: "Don't fly to Europe, fly to Cairns instead and spend your money here, this is the best way you can help us."

That's akin to saying this: Please continue carrying on doing the things that we know triggers worsening anthropogenic climate change (air travel; indulgence consumption), so as we can put off changing our behaviours until we absolutely no longer have the choice.

Screen grab taken from ABC NEWS 24.

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Artist as Family does Bed Intruder (in the garden)

Last year a solitary news report became the seed bank for this near-readymade musical anomaly, which soon sporulated into hundreds of covers, rip offs and responses.

Not before time, here is ours:

A big thanks to Nicholas Hansen, Rider and Rachael Leslie and Glen Dunn for their assistance in production and the the fun we shared in recording this little piece of counter-propaganda.

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Found glib poem

Progress is

Everyone's business

Rollover to learn more

Advertisement found at theatlantic.com, as of this day.

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Sown up liberty

Eighteen months ago, after Obama came to office, I blogged that he'll "either be shot or fully bought within 12-24 months". Well, it's now pretty clear which one.

Back in April this year – "Obama Appoints Pesticide Executive to Top Trade Post" (from Democracy Now):

And food justice advocates are criticizing President Obama’s recent appointment of a top pesticide industry executive to a key trade position. The executive, Islam Siddiqui, was named the US Trade Representative’s Chief Agricultural Negotiator in a spate of recent appointments. Siddiqui is a former vice president and lobbyist at CropLife America, a group of the major industrial players in the pesticide industry, including Syngenta, Monsanto and Dow Chemical. A coalition of over eighty environmental, family farm and consumer advocacy organizations had campaigned against his nomination.

Last year the following video was posted. There has been no major press coverage of this story since April 2009, and little follow up available online:



Just when you're thinking, "well, that's America", you discover Croplife Australia made up of the same group of dirty chem-lobbyists who are bullying weak politicians in Oz – No GM labelling on foods, university departments being built to champion factory farming, continuing heavy reliance on health destroying herbicides and pesticides, insane licensing policies, trialling of GM crops in several states despite dodgy shareholder-determined science.

If you want to get better informed about what all this means for you and your local environment, (and you haven't already) watch The World According to Monsanto.

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