JOYENGINE: cause sharing is cool

Our faith in electronic technology will enable us to achieve a more sustainable and enjoyable earthly existence.  With modern technology we will find a way to get off the crack-like fossil fuels we’ve become so dependent upon.  Our improvements in electronics will allow our individual and collective efficiency to continue to increase.  We will make more - faster and in a seemingly smarter manner.

But, will we really improve our human experience in the process?  Seems like it, but we’re going to have to find a way to manage our e-waste first, and merely shipping it overseas for another people to contend with is certainly not the answer.

Managing our e-waste is going to be one of the most important steps in continuing to improve our human experience. Unfortunately, every time one piece of our technology is improved another is rendered obsolete.  This obsolete technology is then shipped far, far away - out of sight out of mind, where it inversely impacts the lives and well being of others.   We must continue to take responsibility and find more efficient ways to reduce, reuse, and process and recycle our e-waste.

The good news is, change is afoot… Design the 4th Bin.

How and where to recycle all of your gadgets

Here is what the adminstration of Sarkozy came up with for Paris…

WARNING - IN SPANISH WITH NO SUBTITLES

Interesting to think about how a Cold War symbol like Capitan America and the story of his origins is translated into another language…

Part 2

Josh Kurlantzick, Over at Good Magazine poses an interesting angle on global finace, “Beijing should bankroll a new “global rescue fund” to help countries hit hardest by the economic collapse.”  His ideas are intriguing.  With the Chinese more financially linked to the west, they’d have much greater vested interest in maintaining a peaceful globe.  They’d be a lot more powerful too…

In case you’re not certain how the whole credit crisis went down, or you’re not totally familiar with the specificis of why our captialistic system has recently failed us, well  Jonathan Jarvis is gonna tell you.  And, in damn fine form.  This is possibly the best visual assessment of the credit crisis I’ve yet to stumble upon and there’s a nice little website too.  Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Appreciation for language will be needed over the coming months for my joyengine blog entries.

My mention of Martin Heidegger this week provides a nice transition into explaining the intended pattern behind the content I post.

Simply put, cross-cultural understanding is enhanced when people speak more than one language. Its always the folks who fear multi-lingual traits that embrace xenophobia, driven by ignorance more than anything else.

Given globalization trends doesn’t it make sense for more of us in the United States to be familiar with other languages? Do you know anyone who’s ever been at a disadvantage for speaking more than one language? Ever hear the story of how Charles de Gaulle was impressed with Jackie Kennedy’s French skills?

I am fortunate to know Spanish, essentially it was my first language. Me Anglish es limited…My mother encouraged me to learn Deutsch beginning in the 5th grade, and in college I added Portuguese to the mix. Still, I really can’t understand French very well and feel, given the chance, Italian is close at hand. Oh, and I totally think if you listen to Japanese carefully, one starts to hear familiar Spanish sounding tones.

No wonder why Alberto Fujimoro was effective in becoming president of Peru…

Must admit, the coolest experience for me at the DNC last summer was recognizing and speaking with Alejandro Toledo, ex-President of Peru. The guy was in the nosebleed seats of Mile High in front of our crew. He couldn’t believe I was able to identify him.

This was possible for two reasons. First, I spoke Spanish and initiated conversation with his group, and secondly remembered reading NYTimes coverage of his campaign in 2001. Plus I had conversations with a Peruvian friend about his candidacy. So yes it pays to speak, read and write in English…

Subject matters covered won’t be original, but promises to be unique. I’ll try to include stuff that has subtitles, but if the content merits omissions, so be it. Not going to translate. This blog has global readers, who I think will respond well to this project coming from Colorado, the state with a Spanish name.

Seeing how diverse the youth generation has become gives hope that linguas will be a part of our country’s future. Hopefully you’ll enjoy, cause I’ve got a lot of ideas for this experiment…

Wonder what kind of food Tom Tancredo likes to eat?

Back from three days of shredding Aspin, CA…

I was up there with my friends at Futuristic Films, who showed their new film ‘The Ripple Effect‘ at the Wheeler Opera House on Friday night.

We rode Snowmass and Buttermilk. Snow was all over the place, soft, firm, and crusty are words I’d use to describe the conditions. It’s been at least a week since the last storm. As always though, it was fun to be out there…

The weekend illustrated for me the ‘tightrope of choice’ we all walk in these times of economic and social change. It feels like we can go in one of two directions right now, and in a hurry. Now is the time to aim higher and get it “right”.

I met abstract artist Gino Hollander yesterday. The experience reminded me that it takes an elemental faith for life and its creative processes to navigate all the bull shit. This man was a walking history book, with a command for embracing change throughout his life… I feel fortunate to have been in his home - Hollander Art.

Faith is Elemental — Paulo Coehlo

Everyday we hear people bumming on things. Yeah, its hard, no doubt. As a business owner, I can attest. But there’s a personal responsibility for each of us to tune out the negativity associated with the doom and gloom vibe.

Most of us are waking up everyday for a reason. Even though it seems like we have little to work with in terms of building blocks, what we, as individuals, do with that finite amount will make all the difference towards finding solutions to our current predicament.

The Obama stimulus package is an absurdly large sum of money, but how it filters into society is up to us. We ultimately decide what our society looks like…We are the ones who will doing the heavy lifting.

Now is the time to maintain faith in where things can go versus where things could go.

“Constructing” means not only producing something that is not yet at hand but also setting up and erecting, rising to the heights — more precisely, first gaining a height, securing it, and thus positing a “right direction”. Thus “constructing” is a commanding that first raises the claim to command and creates a realm of command. - Martin Heidegger

I love skate graphics.  I think they get better with time and use.  The above graphics were on AntiHero, DogTown, and Unbelievers.  The artists are unknown to me except Pusshead.

It was fun sliding bush + cheneys foreheads off.

OK, this is admittedly off topic for Joyengine, but since Todd already started the weird cat theme this week…

PETA has started a new information campaign called Save the Sea Kittens, in an attempt to rebrand fish as adorable vector illustrated felines. The message here is convoluted at best, as they aim to make fish more appealing to kids and convince us not to eat them!

While the idea of informing people about the horrors of factory fish farms is admirable, the execution of this ad campaign is laughably bad. Why are we brainwashing our kids into thinking it’s murder to eat one of the healthiest and most abundant proteins on the planet? With the world’s current global warming awareness (and a looming obesity pandemic) people should be listening to groups like PETA more than ever, and they give us… this? Fish can feel fear? What?!

Before you say anything, my girlfriend is a vegetarian (no fish), and I eat vegetarian 80% of the time. I have an understanding of the overconsumption of meat in our culture, and I think nutrition education needs to become a top priority in this country. But this idiotic campaign is the sort of thing that turns receptive intelligent people away from groups like PETA. Please stop adopting these ridiculous propaganda tactics when the facts are so clearly on your side!

I made your next ad for you: 

Excellent series about Brooklyn and all the nasties that loom in the city. Def makes me love Denver…er, Minneapolis so much more. Watch the rest here