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Link Enjoy Car Free Days! remote url Link 2007-06-25 2007-06-25
  This is about pledging to have your own carfree days, in addition to participating on world carfree day.<blockquote>Car Free Days Campaign Scientists and the world's governments agree. Our carbon emissions are responsible for the dramatic rise in global temperatures. We are already seeing the consequences and it is time to act. Governments and scientists can't solve this problem alone. Each one of us is responsible. And each one of us must be part of the solution. This web site shows you how you can make a difference. You'll discover many ways to reduce your personal carbon emissions and lower your impact on global warming. You'll find fun, healthy activities that can bring more joy to your life while helping the planet. And you'll have the opportunity to be part of a world-wide pledge taken by concerned people like you to reduce their impact on the planet by driving less. One focus of this campaign is to encourage people to enjoy Car Free Days as often as they can. We won't solve this problem unless each person contributes. Please join us by doing your part to reduce global warming. The entire planet and future generations are counting on you.</blockquote>
Link Help Refurbish Electric Streetcars with San Diego Vintage Trolley remote url Link 2007-02-26 2007-02-26
  These cars will "be restored to operating condition and run in downtown San Diego on the loop formed by portions of today's Orange and Blue Lines--to be called the Silver Line." "Pictures of the cars":http://www.sdera.org/sdvt/photo_gallery.shtml. From the The San Diego Electric Railway Association (SDERA) site:<blockquote>Are you interested in volunteering some time to restore classic PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) cars? There will be Saturday "work parties" and Tuesday / Thursday work sessions at the MTS yard in downtown San Diego. Please contact San Diego Vintage Trolley Project Manager Dave Slater (dslater at sdera.org) for details and to get authorization to be on the MTS property. The next work dates are Saturday, February 24, March 10 and March 24. For more information, visit "San Diego Vintage Trolley":http://www.sdera.org/sdvt.</blockquote>
Link San Diego Bike Co-op (bicycle cooperative / coop / bike kitchen / earn a bike) being planned remote url Link 2007-02-26 2007-02-26
  From the Feb-Mar 2007 *Chain Guard* (the newsletter of the "SD County Bicycle Coalition":http://www.sdcbc.org/):<blockquote>David Chernay, one of the founders of the "Ohio City Bicycle Co-op":http://www.ohiocitycycles.org/, has moved to San Diego. . . Mike Henderson also wants to make the coop a reality.</blockquote> See also: o "the original story (html version of newsletter)":http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:r4cHqXSNwjAJ:sdcbc.org/ChainGuard/February-March07.pdf+david+chernay+coop&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us o "San Diego Earn A Bike and cooperative initiative":http://earnabike.org/ o "Google on San Diego Bicycle Cooperative":http://www.google.com/search?q=san+diego+bicycle+cooperative
Link Reclaim The Streets San Diego: Friday April 13th, 2007 in downtown San Diego remote url Link 2007-02-26 2007-02-26
  <blockquote>The event itself is meant to remind the bystander and reaffirm to the participant that the streets belong to the people; not corporations, cars, or the government. It is the people's efforts that produced the roads themselves, and Reclaim The Streets simply means that for a period of time the masses are going to take back what is theirs and do what they choose with it.</blockquote>See also: o "SD RTS on MySpace":http://www.myspace.com/sdrts2007 o "Wikipedia on RTS":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reclaim_the_Streets o "Google on RTS":http://www.google.com/search?q=reclaim+the+streets
Link The San Diego Sea to Sea Trail Foundation remote url Link 2006-12-11 2006-12-11
  Their Mission: After completing the Sea To Sea Trail (Trans County Trail), the goal of the Sea To Sea Trail Foundation will be to create a network of interconnected trails crisscrossing the lower 48 states of the United States. A person will be able to ride a bicycle, ride a horse or walk to every large or medium size town in the country. Trails will lead directly or indirectly to the nation&#8217;s major trails, such as the Appalachian Trail, the American Discovery Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. All qualifying trails in the network can include www.seatoseatrail.org on their mile markers to indicate their being a part of the trail grid. Our first area of focus is San Diego. This branch is called the San Diego Trans County Trail. It is also known as the San Diego Sea To Sea Trail. The latter name is largely coincidental. The two seas it connects are the Pacific Ocean in Del Mar, California and The Salton Sea, 140 miles inland. This Trail crosses the Pacific Crest Trail, which extends from Mexico to Canada.
Link Indigenous Cultures - Survival International remote url Link 2006-12-10 2006-12-14
  Since I read _Savages_, by Joe Kane, and all the other books I mention in my "third update":../update00004/#intro, and, more recently, _Endgame_, by Derrick Jensen, I have been more aware that car culture is destroying other cultures that do not use cars. I first added Survival International, an organization noted by George Monbiot, to the list of links on the main page. Now I want to reference a more extensive list of organizations seeking to help indigenous cultures avoid destruction. For now, I will link to the wikipedia category of "Indigenous Rights Organizations":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Indigenous_rights_organizations. Here is "Survival International":http://www.survival-international.org/. I ordered some documents from Survival. They arrived almost a month later (and my emails sent asking when I might receive it went unanswered). Here are some of my reactions:<blockquote>. . . it seems to be a true history of the world (of the indigenous peoples), and of the beauty of real people in the world. Among the most memorable at the moment is a map of Siberia with 30+ names of indigenous nations scattered all over it. And I thought there was no one there. . .</blockquote>
Link Heinz Stücke left his hometown in the 1960s on a bicycle, and never stopped cycling remote url Link 2006-12-10 2006-12-10
  He writes:<blockquote>In search of adventure and with the desire to see something of the world, I started my tour around the globe in August 1960, from my home town of Hövelhof - Germany. I was 20. 17,000 km and 20 countries later I was back home but not for long. From November, 1962, up to the present day I have been cycling and travelling non stop.</blockquote> See also <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Stücke">wikipedia</a>, and "google":http://www.google.com/search?&q=Heinz+St%C3%BCcke.
Link crimethinc. ex-workers' collective remote url Link 2006-11-18 2006-11-18
  Read their "introduction":http://www.crimethinc.com/main/intro.html. I have never forgotten how it ends:<blockquote>See you on the other side of the screen, if you make it, earnest cyberspace cadet.</blockquote>(If you were wondering why I hardly work on this site any more. . .) I am adding their page because of their publication "fighting for our lives":http://www.crimethinc.com/a/fighting/. They do in fact mail out free copies.
Link How To Live Well Without Owning A Car by Chris Balish remote url Link 2006-08-13 2006-08-13
  This is by "Chris Balish":. Earlier he "asked for input":../cbemailqs/. Wonderful! The following is from the "publishers page":http://www.simpleliving.net/main/item.asp?itemid=954, which has pdfs of the first two chapters and table of contents that you can download. Here's "google on the title":http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+live+well+without+owning+a+car too.<blockquote>**Avoid the gas pump! Cut expenses! Reduce debt! Simplify your life!** *How To Live Well Without Owning A Car* is a new nonfiction book by award-winning journalist and author Chris Balish. The book suggests taking a different path--a car-free path. The program in this book will show you how to live a full, active life without owning a car. And without a car to pay for, practically anyone can get out of debt, save money, and even achieve financial freedom. The truth is that tens of millions of working Americans do not need to own a car. There's no doubt that cars, trucks, and SUVs are useful tools. They provide instant, on-demand transportation at a moment's notice. They can haul heavy loads and help you run errands. And they can whisk you out of town for a weekend away. That's why this book does not suggest that you never use a car or never ride in one. This book simply argues that millions of Americans can get along just fine and save a fortune by not owning a car. When you do need one you can rent or use car sharing. Living car-free in America is not difficult, but it does require some mild lifestyle changes. This book will walk you through the process step by step. The strategies in this book will help put you on the car-free path to financial freedom; or, if you do not wish to get rid of your car entirely, they'll help you save money by using your car less. So even if living "car-free" isn't your style, this book can show you how to live happily "car-lite." About The Author Chris Balish is an award-winning feature writer, reporter, and six-time Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist. He began his writing career working for Writer's Digest magazine and Writer's Digest Books. Since 1995 he has been a full-time reporter and television news anchor. Chris is the recipient of more than thirty awards for excellence in journalism and writing, including six regional Emmy Awards. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.</blockquote>
Link Pedestrian Culture remote url Link 2006-04-08 2006-04-09
  <Blockquote>For place-based research and creative projects on the humble and revolutionary act of walking. For artists, writers, composers, psychogeographers, historians, architects, general walkers, and anyone interested in issues of place. . . . We also encourage contributions of place-based raw data.</blockquote> His "links":http://www.csulb.edu/~gbach/links.html. His "Atlas List of Sounds (sounds logged on my morning walk January-June 2003)":http://www.csulb.edu/~gbach/atlassource.html. It begins like this:<blockquote>car accelerating car accelerating, distant car accelerating, with knocking, pinging car accelerating, with stuttering, misfiring car accelerating in short bursts car accelerating, very loud</blockquote>And ends:<blockquote>shoe rolls over pebble misstep on cracked or uneven sidewalk, or simply clumsy aware of my own footsteps, stomps, or shuffles aware of my own squeaky footsteps due to wet shoes other undefined self-noise, shuffle, clothes rustle moment of quiet--nothing substantial heard</blockquote> He made a catalog of the "Williamsburg Bridge walkway":http://www.csulb.edu/~gbach/bridge.html. Imagine what that means to have done. And he has an "email list":http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pedestrianculture/. The "bibliography":http://www.csulb.edu/~gbach/biblio.html. And he has a link to "Henry Thoreau's Blog":http://blogthoreau.blogspot.com/. More than anything else I've seen (?), the concept of pedestrian culture is what the carfree movement means to me. Combine the awareness of being in space that motivates *Pedestrian Culture*, with the freedom to choose how your city is built and how you live your life. . . [There is, though, a social justice aspect to the carfree movement, which I think "Survival International":http://www.survival-international.org/ represents well. The cultures they are protecting don't use cars. Many of the poorest of any town don't use cars.] Here is more (edited) from the end of "Glenn Bach":http://www.csulb.edu/~gbach/'s thirteen-page CV. I have cut and revised it as I read and re-read it, now it seems almost a manifesto:<blockquote>My work embraces walking--a means of commuting to work, a method of contemplation and meditation, and a process by which to examine landscapes. Walking from, to, through, and within a place allows investigation into elements that make a place. With drawing, recorded and cataloged sound, digital photography, and found poetry, I map landscapes. I focus on sound to de-emphasize sight. I trace the sounds of a walk with a pen. I take photographs that suggest sound or sound-making. With slide shows I explore place data. What happens when each image in a cycle appears for seven seconds? What happens when the images are paired with a soundtrack less regular? Repeating, fleeting images and sounds build an experiential wash. My work is mindfulness: attention to the places around me, selecting moments for closer attention, giving life to my awareness of my place in the world.</blockquote> All this reminds me of the evening I went to the nearby "Campus Plaza shopping center":http://www.google.com/search?q=%22campus+plaza%22+%22san+diego%22+%22el+cajon%22 and decided to pretend I was in Venice, Italy. I visited stores I had never walked in. Smelled the smells. Watched the parking lot. I was inspired by an older man who walks and walks the perimeter of the center and who was now sitting in front of the Starbucks, just sitting. On a bench next to Vons I sat to meditate. Eventually in "full lotus":http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/488_1.cfm (not as good as hers). I would close my eyes. I also opened them without moving my neck or my eyes and watched the visual field. The sun was setting. I had finished an application I had been stressing about. I focused on breathing deep and huge, and appreciated California's exhaust controls, as the cars circled and entered or left spaces in front of me. Having spent that time there (two hours?) transformed a space I would never have thought to appreciate into a site of historic spiritual(?) experience, now inhabited by my memory of that evening. I did this to be with people. A woman in a parked car in front of me, while the passenger shopped half an hour. One person spoke to me, a kid walking the sidewalk with the homeless black-clothed ones: smalltalk at first, later asking for ganja. Conversations of those filling water jugs turned to wealth tips and "What do you drive?" The parking lot is like the water. The sidewalk around the lot is where the people who have made it to land walk. The edge has a roof, it is a covered walkway. In Venice I had been in "Piazza San Marco":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_San_Marco in front of the tower, on the ground, facing the Basilica. I did not have a place to sleep, and tried sleeping crosslegged, listening to voices and footsteps. Later I walked out to a park and slept there after shitting in a canal and talking with some teenagers from Santa Barbara who had their own (their parents') 120-foot yacht.
Link Carfree Days Discussed in National Geographic! remote url Link 2006-04-08 2006-04-08
  This is one of the best things I've seen. Don't miss "page 2":http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0329_060329_cars_2.html, which has a link to the "photo gallery by Sarah Leen":http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0406/feature5/zoom1.html. The photo titled <i>Bumper to Bumper</i> is unforgettable. Remember the "B-52 graveyard":http://www.alexmaclean.com/exhibitions/airlines/LS5388-35.html? (Alex Maclean also has "Parking at Memorial Stadium During Orioles Game":http://www.alexmaclean.com/exhibitions/airlines/LS4322-27.html.) Nation Geographic also has a "photo from the World Naked Ride":http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/0617_050617_nakedbikers.html! It is provoking--usually the only naked people portrayed are in a jungle or a desert tribe. . . ?
Link San Diego State (SDSU) Environmental Activism / clube3, enviro business society, green campus, & SEAC: student environmental action coalition remote url Link 2006-04-08 2006-04-08
  (Links to student environmental organizations an SDSU) When I first arrived in January 2003 there was SEAC. They organized an earthday event in Spring 2003. The students behind that org left. Next on the scene was Benjamin Crawford, a dynamic, charismatic guy, with the SDSU Environmental Business Society. He also did work with the campus electric car competition team. Now, Spring 2006, this is Ben's last semester, and he's trying to make sure the society continues, in the form of "clube3":http://clube3.org/. Today, I just met Bryce Winter with SDSU Green Campus. He is currently carfree. As far as I know they don't have a website yet. He is a paid intern and their funding comes from the "Association to Save Energy":http://ase.org. For some other CSU/SDSU enviro links, visit "the sdsu area carfree club":../carfreeclub/. In additon, "SD Ishmael":../sdishmael/ sometimes has been having its meetings on campus. I met Bryce at a booth at a "Explore SDSU" fair they are having today. He was with the guys from the campus physical plant, who inform me how much they are doing so that the campus will be more efficient. (There are many solar panels on campus roofs, for example). I got to talk with them about the pollution caused by the gas-powered golf carts. . . Campus President Stephen Weber was walking by, and I gave him one of the "carfree business cards":../businesscards002.pdf/view, and we talked about the "letter to the editor":../ed01weber/ I wrote, and related things.
Link The Quarry Village - Carfree Living in the Hills of Hayward California remote url Link 2006-03-13 2006-03-29
  A development of 1000 homes designed for carfree living has been proposed for a 30-acre site in Hayward, CA. Quarry Village is one of the most pure carfree projects yet to be proposed in the Western US. There will only be 70 parking spaces for the 1000 homes. The village is centered around a 2.1 mile bus transit link that connects the village to the Hayward BART (a six minute ride) and California State University, Hayward. The project is currently attempting to demonstrate enough of a market to arrange the purchase of the site land from CalTrans when it becomes available in 2008 or 2009. At the time of writing, the site has some bad links. Go to the "document library":http://www.quarryvillage.org/documents/ to find the detailed proposal. Additional links: o "Hayward Man Envisions A Car-Free Village":http://www.cicle.org/cicle_content/pivot/entry.php?id=40. Here is the original source (the archive is not working as I write this): "East Bay man driven to create car-free village":http://tinyurl.com/mjvgs o "Sherman Lewis's bio at CSUEB":http://class.csueastbay.edu/politicalscience/Sherman_Lewis.php o Google on "Hayward Area Planning Association Sherman Lewis":http://www.google.com/search?q=Hayward+Area+Planning+Association+Sherman+Lewis
Link A page I made for english 522 taught by M. Borgstrom (Redrawing the Boundaries: Literature of the U.S., 1800-1860) remote url Link 2006-02-03 2006-02-03
  I was testing out some ideas for teaching on myself and made a page in case anyone else wanted to participate:<blockquote>This is for Michael Borgstrom's engl522 class, Fall 2005 at SDSU. There are three activities: blogging about class and readings, writing a thesis statement or question about the readings, and voting on which statement or question interests you the most.</blockquote>
Link The Victoria Transport Policy Institute remote url Link 2006-01-30 2006-01-30
  The Victoria Transport Policy Institute is an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative and practical solutions to transportation problems. We provide a variety of resources available free at this website to help improve transportation planning and policy analysis. We are funded primarily through consulting and project grants. Our research is among the most current available and has been widely applied. It can help you: o Identify better solutions to transportation problems, including some approaches that are frequently overlooked or misunderstood. o Identify the full benefits, costs and equity impacts of alternative transportation policies and programs. o Compare and evaluate alternatives. o Create a bridge between theory and practice.
Link The Noise Pollution Clearinghouse remote url Link 2006-01-27 2006-01-27
  The Noise Pollution Clearinghouse is a national non-profit organization with extensive online noise related resources. The Noise Pollution Clearinghouse seeks to: o Raise awareness about noise pollution o Create, collect, and distribute information and resources regarding noise pollution o Strengthen laws and governmental efforts to control noise pollution o Establish networks among environmental, professional, medical, governmental, and activist groups working on noise pollution issues o Assist activists working against noise pollution The mission of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse is to create more civil cities and more natural rural and wilderness areas by reducing noise pollution at the source.
Link The San Diego Environmental Foundation's EcoCenter remote url Link 2005-12-31 2005-12-31
  I always thought it promising when a city had an "Eco Center" like the famous "Urban Ecology Center":http://www.urbanecology.org/history.htm. It turns out San Diego has its own version, not three miles from where I live. I missed it, though I've passed it, because it looks like an automobile showroom. Not like an urban ecology center. Or a "permaculture institute":http://www.regenerativedesign.org/ptreyes, or the "Occidental Arts and Ecology Center":http://www.oaec.org/. To be fair, San Diego does have some permaculture-looking sites featured in books (it was in Athena & Bill Steen's *The Straw Bale House* or *The Beauty of Straw Bale* or (an even better book) *The hand-sculpted house: a philosophical and practical guide to building a cob cottage / Ianto Evans, Linda Smiley, and Michael Smith* currently available in the SDSU library). SD also has the "Green Store":../jimbell/. But, the EcoCenter has "a state-of-the-art 'Autotorium'" conveniently located immediately next to the I-15 highway:<blockquote>The **Autotorium** at the **Ecocenter** is a 47 seat theatre equipped with actual automobile seats, a projector for DVD's, CD's and a 10ft by 7ft screen and audio system.</blockquote> I'm pretty sure I saw a photo in the *Union Tribune* a while ago of Education Director Judy Bishop getting a kid to drink the water from the tailpipe of a hydrogen/electric-powered vehicle. . . Well, alright. I shouldn't complain too much about the good they're doing. Let's make a "San Diego Center for Urban Ecology". Let's locate it next to or near the trolley line&mdash;*away* from a highway, if possible. Let's not have it filled with "actual automobile seats". May it look organic, human-scale, and hand-sculpted. May it have more than three palm trees and a strip of grass growing out front. Auto-industry funding? We'll have to pay for it some other way.
Link A ride for the climate: a bicycle tour through the Americas to raise awareness of climate change remote url Link 2005-11-17 2005-11-17
  David Kroodsma is riding from Palo Alto, California to the southern tip of South America. He was mentioned in the San Diego Union Tribune on Wednesday, November 16 2005. <blockquote>I am riding to raise awareness of climate change and how it will affect the Americas. Climate change may cause massive extinctions, losses in agriculture, increased risks of malaria, stronger hurricanes, rising sea levels, and even potentially the end of the Amazon rainforest. Furthermore, climate change will be worse for less wealthy tropical nations than it will be for wealthier nations such as the United States. I am giving presentations in schools before and during this trip, and I am meeting with researchers and environmental groups in each country. My goals are educational, but I hope that you will take action.</blockquote>
Link "Political Science" in _Non Sequitur_ by Wiley Miller remote url Link 2005-11-17 2006-09-16
  Definitely on the level of "Andy Singer":../stayWhereYouAre/image_view. The cartoon is of the evolving-to-human-from-sea sequence with the neanderthal and all the others being run over by a homo sapiens sapiens in a landrover running in reverse.
Link WorldChanging.com: cool news about good things. remote url Link 2005-11-16 2005-11-16
  I found out about this from the "TED Global":../ted/ participant list.
Link GPI Atlantic - A Genuine Progress Index (GPI) to Measure Sustainability remote url Link 2005-11-16 2005-11-16
  <blockquote>GPI Atlantic is constructing a genuine progress index (GPI) of sustainable development for Nova Scotia. The GPI provides an alternative to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by including the importance of natural and social capital, natural resources, environmental quality, unpaid voluntary and household work, leisure time, health and knowledge.</blockquote> I Found out about this from "A New Measure of Well-Being From a Happy Little Kingdom":http://www.google.com/search?q=%22A+New+Measure+of+Well-Being+From+a+Happy+Little+Kingdom%22 by Andrew C. Revkin in the New York Times on October 4, 2005.
Link San Diego Environmental Leader Network and Announcement List remote url Link 2005-11-16 2005-11-16
  Here is the "San Diego Area Nonprofit Environmental Events Calendar":http://www.sdlen.org. "Networking the environmental community of San Diego" Join us as we meet every month in different venues to share our nonprofit experiences with one another. The Environmental Leader Networking Group was founded in 2001 by Conservation Coordinators from local environmental organizations, and has met monthly for discussion, sharing and support. We are a 'Great Third Place'. Join us!
Link The American Discovery Trail: the only coast-to-coast non motorized recreational trail remote url Link 2005-10-24 2006-12-11
  I have long wanted to collect/write about all the trails in the US, because they help us get to some of the best carfree places. This is all for now, though!
Link Ultraculture: Proof that your magic has worked. remote url Link 2005-10-23 2005-10-23
  This is by Jason Louv, son of "Richard":../citistates/ who I just heard speak today at SDSU's "crisis carnival":http://crisiscarnival.sdsu.edu, a crisis because it costs money to present there and so many of the presenters bore their audience by reading papers. Now, I find this:<blockquote>Magic is the application of sufficient will and imagination to cause positive change in the world.</blockquote> And I see where this guy lives, and where he has the opening for the book he edited:<blockquote>GENERATION HEX Jason Louv and a frenzied pack of Generation Hex authors melt your temporal lobe with all of the occult and shamanic hijinks you can shake a gris-gris machete at. Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, New York City, October 27, 7:30-10 PM.</blockquote> The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors is an "Alex Grey":../kenWilber/ project. So, what am I doing here trying to add three pages to a 7-page paper on _Death of a Salesman_ so I can assist the teaching of an intro to lit course next semester? Is this magic? o "google on ultraculture":http://www.google.com/search?q=ultraculture o "dKosopedia on ultraculture":http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Ultraculture
Link TED Conference remote url Link 2005-07-09 2005-07-09
  Here's the blurb from their global conference:<blockquote> "Ideas Big Enough to Change the World" July 12-15, 2005. Oxford, UK. Welcome to an important new chapter in the TED story. TEDGLOBAL will be like TED but with an even stronger focus on really big world-changing ideas. Stand by for memes and dreams from the intersecting worlds of science, business, globalization, invention, and creativity.... seasoned, as ever, with inspirational performance art, music and comedy. There will be a more international mix of speakers and attendees. Smaller numbers at launch, but quality all the way.</blockquote>

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