Hasta La Gadget!

The GoPro leak machine just keeps on leaking : PetaPixel just revealed that GoPro may add a low-spec, budget model to the bottom of its action cam line. Meet the HERO.

Read more…

President Obama’s decision to deploy 3,000 troops to Liberia in Africa to assist in efforts to contain Ebola got me to thinking about the military as white blood cells. As a military officer, I took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. In a sense, I was vowing to defend the collective body politic just as white blood cells defend our individual bodies against “enemy” invaders.

But when was the last time the United States faced invaders who posed a virulent and direct threat to our existence? Invaders who directly attacked (or planned to attack) and utterly defeat our body politic? You’d have to go back to World War II and Japan’s attack at Pearl Harbor; similarly, Nazi Germany did have plans (that were never implemented) to take its world war to U.S. shores once the Soviet Union and Britain were defeated. Fortunately, our body mobilized its “white blood cells” and defeated (with lots of help from our allies) these enemies before they could afflict our vitals here at home.

Jump ahead to 2001 and the al Qaeda attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Yes, they were serious and shocking and traumatic. But compared to the Nazis and the Japanese in World War II (true cancers), al Qaeda was the equivalent to a 24-hour “bug,” violent in the extreme, but ultimately not a serious long-term threat to the health of America.

By calling 9/11 a “bug,” I don’t mean to diminish the tragedy of 9/11 for those who lost loved ones. It’s just that repeats of 9/11-like attacks were not possible: al Qaeda simply lacked the resources to sustain them. There was no “cancer” that could metastasize. So there was no need to deploy our white blood cells (our troops) in extended wars, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq, the latter country of which had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11.

Now we have the President referring to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) as a “cancer” that must be eradicated, even though that “cancer” has no means of attacking the body that is our country. Despite this fact, the U.S. is deploying its white blood cells yet again to quash a threat that for our nation simply doesn’t exist.

From medicine, we know that overactive white blood cells can be as dangerous as underactive ones. White blood cells are part of our immune systems; when these systems are overactive, they convert non-threats into threats. Sometimes that results in violent allergic reactions that can lead to death. Other times, one’s own immune system turns on healthy tissue within one’s body. The immune system itself becomes a cancer, eating away at the body in misdirected attempts to defend it.

Whenever the U.S. faces a “threat” nowadays, our leaders treat it aggressively as a “cancer” even when the threat poses no direct peril to us. American presidents, whether they’re named Bush or Obama, eagerly deploy America’s antibodies — the military — to search and destroy bad terrorist cells. But the USA is like a patient whose antibodies have run wild, a patient whose antibodies have turned on external threats even when they’re not threats, a patient whose antibodies are now attacking healthy tissue within the American body politic.

Consider the fact that U.S. presidents commit the troops — our nation’s antibodies — to wars against “cancers” without formal declarations of war by Congress. In the name of protecting America, they violate the Constitution that our troops are sworn to uphold. They fail to recognize it’s their actions that pose the true threat to the Constitution. It’s their actions that constitute the cancer.

The invasive “cure” of continuous military action without oversight exercised by the people is truly worse than the disease, for it’s a “cure” that violates our Constitution and weakens our body politic.

And that is indeed the worst cancer of all.

—

A retired lieutenant colonel (USAF) and professor of history, William Astore edits the blog The Contrary Perspective.

Earlier this year Kevin Bates revealed what had to be the best way to make an amazing first impression with any potential employer: a business card that actually played Tetris . That project is still in development (yes, you’ll eventually be able to buy one) but in the meantime Kevin has reformatted the guts of his Arduboy into a wearable bracelet that turns the world’s most popular puzzle game into a fashion statement.

Read more…

Bluetooth speakers are fairly ubiquitous, with just about everyone jumping into the mix. Dell can be counted among those who want to make themselves known on your desktop with their AD211. The portable tube is appropriately priced, but does it pack enough punch to make you seek it out? Good question — let’s find out! Hardware With Bluetooth speakers, there’s … Continue reading

Thanks to the epic success of the People’s Climate March, alarm bells demanding climate action have never rung louder. So, now that you’ve succeeded in elevating the mother of all issues to the top of the global agenda, where should you and your fellow 399,999 marchers direct your tide-turning energies?

1. Dig in to Food and Climate

If you’re up to speed on the climate impacts of the energy and transportation sectors, why not investigate the often hidden connections between food and climate? Did you know the global food system can exacerbate our woes (for instance, agriculture is responsible for 75 percent of global deforestation) or be key to solving them? (Organic farms use 30-50 percent less fossil fuel energy than industrial farms). This accessible report on the topic can get you started. If your book club is looking for a good read, there are many great books that elucidate the connection between food and climate including Anna Lappe’s classic Diet for a Hot Planet, and Dan Barber’s thoughtful meditation, The Third Plate. If you’re looking for something truly meaty, tackle, This Changes Everything, hot off the press by the inimitable Naomi Klein.

2. Quit Wasting Food!

With food insecurity right in our communities, food waste is obviously a big moral problem. It’s also a significant climate problem. How significant? In 2012, the most recent year for which estimates are available, Americans threw out roughly 35 million tons of food. That’s 50 percent more food than the U.S. tossed out in 1990, and nearly three times what Americans discarded in 1960. In fact, it’s 40 percent of what we produce. America, this is totally unacceptable! We’re wasting energy and precious fresh water, and by sending food waste to landfills, we’re cooking up 21 percent of America’s methane pie. Do we need Stephen Colbert to wag his finger at us and explain why this is not okay?

National Archives and Records Administration – Public Domain

3. Fall in Love With Your (New) Compost Bucket

Do you compost? Why not? You have a trash can in your house, right? It is likely that one third of the garbage coming out of your house isn’t garbage at all, but food scraps. These are a valuable resource that that can be turned into an amendment that creates healthy soil. In fact, many of the Cool Foods Campaign’s activities focus on communicating the critical importance of rebuilding soil health. Why? Rebuilding soil health is a no-risk, low-cost approach to store carbon in the ground where it provides multiple benefits for climate stability, food security, and fresh water availability. Instead of being “The United States of Food Waste” let’s become, “The United States of Compost.”

Kirsty Hall – CC BY 2.0

4. Pick up the Phone and Make Your Voice Heard

Pick a climate solution that interests you such as rebates for solar panels, a new farmer’s market, bike lanes in your town, or municipal composting. Call your elected representatives and say, “Hi, I’m Jane, and I want you to know that Action on Climate is important to me.” Your simple phone call allows elected representatives to say, “I’ve heard from my constituents and they are asking that we implement climate solutions now.”

5. Vote on November 4, 2014

Finally, make sure you vote on Election Day. “Climate Change belongs at the forefront of American politics” but, the only way we’ll get it there is if we turn up and vote on Election Day. We can’t afford to stay home. In fact, not voting is essentially casting a vote for the Koch brothers’ anti-science, fossil-fuel agenda. Do your homework and make sure you aren’t casting a vote for a climate-denier. Look to the League of Conservation Voters for candidates with sound environmental policies. Here are seven races where there is a stark difference between the candidates on climate: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

Rama – CC BY-SA 2.0 FR

The People’s Climate March represents a significant global turning point, but to make meaningful progress on climate, we’ll all have to continue moving forward!