Black Friday: The Slaughter Continues...

Two more of America's finest consumers have perished in a gunfight at a Toys 'R' Us in Southern California. They died valiantly, as each struggled to secure the season's hottest new toy, "Gag Me Elmo". The two men simultaneously shot each other to death. They will likely receive a Presidential honor as exemplary role models of pure American fanaticism, petty materialism, and testosterone driven decision making.

Some people are struggling to understand how this could happen. From the AP article: "I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toys "R" Us?" he said. "I doubt it was the casual holiday shopper." Au contraire. I can't help but ask, why didn't any of the other toy shoppers have their guns with them? What happened to all of those assault weapons everyone bought after Obama got elected?

Read the Associated Press story here.

wal-mart worker trampled to death by black friday crowd

Wow. This is powerful stupid. Is this the logical result of rampant American consumerism? Rabid, frothing-at-the-mouth, "bargain hunters" (as Fox News has dubbed them), crushing the greeter to death to save a few bucks on twinkies? Now let's watch as Walmart denies insurance privileges to the massacred worker's family.

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Police say a Wal-Mart worker has died after being trampled by a throng of unruly shoppers shortly after the Long Island store opened Friday.

Nassau County police say the 34-year-old worker was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 6 a.m., an hour after the store opened. The cause of death was not immediately known.

A police statement says a throng of shoppers "physically broke down the doors, knocking him to the ground." Police also say a 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital for observation.

Read the full story here.

summer of love

when finals started at the end of last spring, my blog postings slowed down quite a bit... to zero. and then summer took over.  this summer has been considerably different than the previous few years.  it began on a pretty optimistic note with cory and i emailing people through craigslist looking to sublet an apartment for a month in berlin and escape the rotisserie oven we call Phoenix.  next thing i knew i was working 40 hours a week in the ASU library doing research for Aaron Golub, associated professor in the School of Sustainability.  as lackluster as it may sound, i have really enjoyed doing the research and i am happy i didn't pass up the opportunity.  in the words of Darwin, "constraints of time prevent me from writing further on this matter currently" but we have been looking at media ownership and the rise of car culture and automobility.  it is enlightening to explore some of the financial and political connections that ensured early on that automobiles would become the essential mode of transportation in the united states.  

another very exciting development for me this summer is a conversation i had with Dan Gillmor, new director for the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship.  he is going to help bring my idea for my master's thesis to fruition.  if all goes as planned we should have an up and running blog/website/alternative media forum focusing on sustainability related events and information coming out of the School of Sustainability and the Phoenix region in general.  so many signs, including coincidentally my research with Aaron this summer, suggest that independent local journalism and alternative media are absolutely essential to sustain democracy in the united states.   that being said, this blog is my training ground.  i am determined to become a more consistent and active blogger on the important issues. check back soon and often. :]

60s umbo sectional shelf

here is our latest addition to the living room... by umbo.

cactus jungle

i haven't posted on here in a long while.  but summer is here and i finally have a few minutes to relax.  i thought i would share some pictures of a few of my favorite succulents around the house.  they are the ones really enjoying the summer sun...  

some interesting factoids..

SOS on NBC..OMG

they edited down five hours of footage into three minutes.  they didn't even let chuck finish his sentence.