Ask Science Dude - Ecosystems. Sinead takes time to explain ecosystems, and some current theories for ecosystem maintenance and preservation. Covering three different approaches to the problems we face in the light of deteriorating environments and ecosystems. And just because the episode is over, doesn’t mean that the discussion will end. If there are more questions that anyone has along these lines, please let us know so that we can address them in the future. You can listen to the show via the player to your right or click the link to download the episode.

Links from Sinead
The awesome book that I talked about during the segment on looking at ecosystems as insurance,
Can we afford the future? by Frank Ackerman

Also, here is a link to some of Dan Janzen’s Wild Garden stuff:
An article that discusses Wild Gardens
About the species in the rainforests

I know it has been a bit since I last checked in, but things have been hectic, to say the least. But I am here now to promise more to come soon…and to rant for a second. What the fuck, Technology?!

This rant comes to you fresh from a two day technology failure born frustration that claimed the life of what was to be the latest episode of Ask Science Dude. About two days ago, Sinead and I got our schedules, and chakras, all aligned and in order to record the latest edition of the show. We had an amazing topic, an awesome rapport and back and forth going. For over an hour we chatted and got all Science Dude-ish. The episode was brilliant. Sinead, as always, was on point, and I was actually insightful and stuff, too. Then it happened…

Fifty five minutes in to the recording, we were winding down and wrapping it up when my MacBook overheated and shut the fuck down without warning!! And just like that, the episode was lost to the aether of the binary boneyards. Gone. All of it. FUCK!!!!

What the fuck, Mac?! Seriously? You can’t test out the performance of your heat syncs and shit before you mass produce your overpriced equipment and pawn them off on the public? This shit should not be that difficult. You have done so much to get your product assembled and functioning symbiotically, but just like the Xbox’s tendencies to red ring after similar overheating issues render the gaming systems into little more than an intricately designed paperweight, you have failed to have enough foresight to properly test this one common problem area. Dammit, people!!

I know we live in a highly disposable society, but this technological shortsightedness is getting ridiculous! Perhaps it is time we started expecting more from the companies that demand so much capital for their crap. I get it. If I pay ten bucks for some little tech gizmo, I don’t expect it to be with me for the rest of my days. But, if I pay hundreds, or worse, thousands, is it too much to expect for at least two hours worth of moderate to heavy use without interruptive malfunctions? I think not!

No worries about the episode, though it will never be exactly the same, Sinead and I will be re-attempting this topic in the coming week, and I will get that out to you all as soon as I am technologically able to do so. Also, another Angry Hippies’ Podcast is nigh. Thanks for the patience, and all the love!!

…oh, and fuck you, too, Skype! I did nothing to you, and still the next morning when Sinead and I planned to give the show a second try, you wouldn’t even hold a connection for a full minute on my end! Why?!? Now that I have reloaded you on my system, Skype, you’d better step up on Wed and bring the connectivity mother fucker, or it’s on! Damn, technology!

Episode 34 a/b : Current Events, Rape Humor, WTF ICE?. This episode touches on Swine Flu, Obama awards community organizers, Obama’s budget, Obama moves towards government transparency, PharmaWater, female genital mutilation, rape culture vs abstinence only ed, Troy Anthony Davis update, PAC madness, FDA overhaul, Somali pirates, US immigration frustrations, Afghanistan legalizes rape, Observe and Report’s date rape scene, rape humor, ICE, music, poetry and more. The show ran long and had to be divided up once again. You can listen to the show via the player to your right or click the links to download 35 and to download 35b. Please get involved in the 1 Million Mad March. For more to come, visit 1 Million Mad, see our site.

For more of the story I read from on Feministing, check out the source, When Rape Culture Meets Abstinence-Only Sex Ed.

Here is a link to the story on Female Genital Mutilation in the US.

Here is a link to the documentary The Power of Nightmares.

Links from Jim
Is revolution brewing in America?
China calls for global currency.
PharmaWater

Check out the Flobots’ Fight with Tools site.

And don’t forget to check out the dark queen of the zine scene, Hannah Neurotica at her Ax Wound Zine Blog!

Ask Science Dude - Game Theory. Sinead takes time to explain game theory and it’s use in the explanation of behavior, by taking us through a few of the games used. And just because the episode is over, doesn’t mean that the discussion will end. If there are more questions that anyone has along these lines, please let us know so that we can address them in the future. You can listen to the show via the player to your right or click the link to download the episode.

Link from Sinead
Dialogues With Darwin

Admittedly it’s kind of an odd feeling when you realize that your life’s purpose is to be one of anger. Though it could be that this oddness comes with any realization of purpose and was not specifically tied into the path of rage. I mean it is possible that even if I had realized that my life’s purpose was to be one of petting puppies then I am speculatively certain that an oddness (could be the same one, could be a different one) would also accompany this realization. (I will also interject that if puppy petting is a perfectly acceptable purpose in life, I may have gotten a bit ripped by getting anger, but whatever…) This digression of a realization was not one I came to while I was sitting in the coffee shop that morning listening to the kingdom ministries’ misfits talk of illegally indoctrinating foster children through their immersion mentoring programs and scripture forcing foster parents, but it was one that I felt I would mention just the same. And as it resulted from this overall experience of purpose definition, it became more relevant than I initially had thought it would be.

No, to be honest the only thing that I thought about in the coffee shop was that I needed to focus on these dogma dealing dickwits and their illicit plans to steal all these children’s souls for salvation. You see, unlike the compassionless Christ table, I was actually considering the life that these kids would be subjected to on this plane. The lives of forced servitude at the altar of the Jesus myth and his fucked up flock of brainwashing sociopaths. As I posed at the end of the first post No rest for the angry - A purpose driven rage Part 1, what if these children cannot learn to accept these force fed beliefs? You see, not only do I believe that this kind of indoctrination of children is basically abuse, but I believe that they would suffer even more abuse at the hands of their oppress…um, I mean ‘saviors’ should they resist these teachings. Anyone wanting to argue that this kind of mental manipulation of children is not abusive, see the movie Jesus Camp and then try to tell me differently!

But these pious people were not sharing in my concern for the children’s lives, for they had their greedy sights set on their souls and that always trumps the here and now in ensuring quality of life. Who needs the life to be anything but subservient, when that guarantees such a glorious afterlife. And add a dash or two of suffering, and your payoff is sure to be that much greater beyond the pearly gates. Get locked in a closet until you accept the many miracles of our savior and Lord Jesus by your adopted parents, and you get like the good cable with the premium movie channels in your afterlife townhome. Get regular beatings with old testament tools of the trade because you fail to unflinchingly accept the scripture as the infallible word of God in your foster home, and get the jacuzzi suite upgrade in your afterlife apartment to soak away the anguish that it took to get you here in the first place.

Nearing the end, but it’s still a bit away, so I am dropping it behind the cut…
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