Weird science and news links, for today:

[wolven7]

"Delhi boy eaten by a herd of pigs." And Now they have a taste for human flesh. Thanks. "Four legs good, two legs bad."

Eddie Campbell's Blog

Plasma looping the sun (with video)

Meant sto show you this one two days ago: The Chemicals of Sound.

First recorded human ritual.

And finally Freegans. Anybody know anything about these guys?

Placebo - [Infra-Red]--- Links brought to you by wacko1138 and my step mom.

Enjoy.

Still looking for responses, here.

Comments

freegans... *dont to hit me!*

[raoin.livejournal.com]

ok. before you get any strange ideas... i dont disapprove
but i do have concerns.

initially, since they are on my mind right now, i was reminded of The Brethren... but that changed one i got past the first few paragraphs. so, ok, not a creepy cult aimed at reorganizing society based on cells of independent Christians who reduce their social footprint.

i know plenty of people have heard of the Homesteaders movement. there's also the Earth Ship stuff, plenty of other communities like Burning Man, and so forth. although i have not yet read the whole site, just that linked front page, i feel as though they are simply giving a new name to an old concept.

this could in some respects be admirable, since it looks like (unlike homesteadders) they desire to remain fully within the current society instead of withdrawing completely from it. this would be a good thing since i think people should contribute to society in some way, if only by eating other people's trash and helping out with neighborhood initiatives. go grass roots! on the other hand, they have essentially, at current, developed a culture that depends on the wastefulness and evilness of the current power structure. after all, if everyone went Freegan, who would there be to conduct dental surgery let alone throw out perfectly good anything? This is not to say that within a global slow conversion to Freegan lifestyle that eventually people could wean off of the current structure isnt possible, but then we have to ask how anyone plans to make this earth house and feed 6billion people using the old methods.

now dont get me wrong. i think that a perfectly good pandemic (ahem, H5N1? where the hell did it go??) getting rid of 2/3rds of the world's population sounds like a cure... bubonic plague anyone? but i also feel as though wishing for a plague to help take pressure off, wont necessarily solve the problem, since in the after math of a world changing event like that, there's bodies to bury, labor shortages, and people would breed like weasels, causing a backlash in problems like sexually transmitted diseases and birth defects... again, i digress, and hell there could end up being no backlash... but i love post-apocalyptic fiction so i'm wild with ideas here.

living as the homesteaders would like, probably wont work for everyone. neither will living like the Freegans, there's going to be a portion of the population, however small that might be, its still going to be pretty large given the current amount of people here, that just dont enjoy, jive with, or thrive in such a lifestyle. and while i'm all set to move to Montana and become a pig-farmer myself (i'd farm anything else if i thought they'd dispose of the bodies as well as pig do) i dont think that pig-farming just now is the answer. i think personally a combination of using current advancements in tech, while continuing to advance tech, along with some of the cleaner, wiser methods already being put into practice by hippies and earth-huggers the world over to make this place a better less doomed hellhole... but i cant see giving up the stuff we have just so that everyone can try to follow some perfect version of the "harm principle"

thank you. and good night. try the veal!

Re: freegans... *dont to hit me!*

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Try this one out: We don't need to all "go freegan" (which is, I think, the problem with most "movements": people think you're Always something), so much as we ned to adopt "Freegan practices." If you need something, or if you see something servicable in the Garbage, then don't let it waste. But I don't think Only living out of the garbage, off of the wastefulness and greed of other, is a good system, for the reasons you noted.

Nothing is perfect, which is why we need a system able to move through stages of itself, to achieve what is necessary for a given situation.

Re: freegans... *dont to hit me!*

[auriam.livejournal.com]

Just another example of the holier-than-thou-ness of Opposition Culture. Everyone wants to be "better" at something. If it can't be making more money or creating more beauty, it can be doing less of whatever it is others like to do, thereby demonstrating superior willpower and self-denial. Like the ascetics Siddhartha rebelled against.

Re: freegans... *dont to hit me!*

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Some people do comme to it of their own, no agenda in mind, they simply find themselves at a place. Which is why i detest the urge to label everything. Some things are simply themselves; a melange of ideas and states. Doesn't need a name.

Re: freegans... *dont to hit me!*

[auriam.livejournal.com]

Labels make things simpler, but are often misused. I just find the preachy tone of the webpage quite annoying. These are kids playing at being "off the grid," while most have monetary resources and could easily have paid medical care, shelter, etc. They don't know what it's like to really be homeless, and they don't know what it's like to have to work at a shit job for a corporation because it's the only way you can make money. They're presumptuous and self-righteous.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Or if they're given to you?

[wacko1138.livejournal.com]

Uhm, the Eddie Campbell blog link you posted just points back to the pig story (I wonder what that means).

It should be http://eddiecampbell.blogspot.com/

[wolven.livejournal.com]

huh. How Strange....