The beauty of being isolated from the hammer of American media conglomerates is the luxury it brings in the choice of independent media outlets to browse the latest news. The more research and classes I spend on Media and the information revolution, the more evident it is that information is a fundamental pillar of democracies worldwide. Stringent regimes thrive on controlling information. Intense propaganda is best served by a handful of media conglomerates.
Now is not the time to launch into an organized argument against the state of media in the United States. Instead I want to plead for all my friends to spend the time watching this program from Democracy Now (1). In this broadcast from June 6th 2008 you will see:
6th June 2008 Headlines
Robert McChesney, Co-founder of Free Press, Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the author of The Political Economy of Media: Enduring Issues, Emerging Dilemmas and Josh Silver, Executive Director of Free Press, speaking about the necessity of independent media outlets and net neutrality (video embedded below).
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps in a fantastic piece on the outrageous state of affair at the Federal Communications Commission;
The very articulate Adrienne Maree Brown on the brilliant Ruckus Society and;
Native American writer Louise Erdrich, author of Love medicine.
Hypermilers are a breed of drivers who, notwithstanding the de facto testosterone rules of the road, cruise to achieve the best mileage possible. No need for electrical cars or hybrids, Wayne Gerdes, the protagonist of the article does it in his plain old Accord. His magic trick? anticipation and aerodynamics.
My little 1995 Civic, a beautiful donation from my friend Kathy, could already average 20 miles per gallon (mpg) with its 10 gallon tank. In ideal circumstances during our road trip from Chicago to Miami last year, we even managed a nice round 30 mpg. Conditions are not perfect in Curacao where most of the trafic is semi-urban but I felt the need, the need for green.
Relax max, chill bill, an antillean grandma is caressing my rear bumper as I let go of the accelerator a while back. She can read my plate as long as she wants, I have no reason to accelerate since the light ahead of us is still red. I’m rolling in gently and realize that I won’t need to break this time around. Conditions are perfect and I fluidly reintegrate the flow of cars who had passed me a few seconds ago.
Over the course of the next three weeks (that’s how long it took me to waste my tank away), I learn all inclines and declines to accelerate and break as little as possible. Conserving momentum is essential when trying to save gas. My tires screech on a few high-speed turns and I never pass 40 miles per hour but the limits are being pushed.
Ultimately, Wayne and I have different motives. Regardless, Erin will achieve a landslide victory and roll 400 miles on one tank, placing the gas consumption of this 13 year old Honda to 40 miles per gallon.
Next step? Recycling water and harnessing the sun. I heard people have done it.
