YouTube feature + New Specials Entries

Posted by Bunny.

Pinky's interview with Jeffrey Smith - a.k.a. What's Wrong With GMOs? - is currently being featured in YouTube's Education area. Which means that for the next few days we will be slugging it out with other YouTube educational videos for viewer supremacy - videos by hot babes (I use the term loosely) teaching about word origins, and real live ("live") college professors explaining the finer points of 'storytelling theory and practice'. The competition is intense.

Also, I just added a few entries in our Specials Area - human beings and some other stuff. And for those of you who haven't been following the Wikileaks controversy - go check it out. Very, very interesting.

~B.

New Video: Na Maka o ka Aina's We Are Who We Were

Posted by Bunny.

We have a new area of our PS website. It's called "Pinky Presents" and it features educational videos made by others. I made this area because in spite of trying to be super clear that we didn't make Islands at Risk: Genetic Engineering in Hawaii, we got several e-mails sent to us that made us realize that some people out there thought we made that video. Well we don't want to take credit for anybody else's work so now we have this new area.

Anyway, in addition to having the new area, there is also a new video in that area for you to watch. It is also by Na Maka o ka Aina and is called We Are Who We Were: From Resistance to Affirmation. When was the last time you got to see a video about Native Hawaiian sovereignty from a Native perspective? The Na Maka website has about a hundred videos - go check it out. I haven't seen them all but in my opinion Faces of the Nation and Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation should be required viewing for every American.

~B.

[ Update: ​the Pinky Presents area is now closed. ]

New Area: Acknowledgments

Posted by Bunny.

I just made a new area to acknowledge all those who have supported us with donations since day 1. You can check it out here. The new system will be able to accept short comments or dedications from now on - isn't that cool?

~B.

Gross National Happiness

Posted by Pinky.

Hi. I received another e-mail from Daisy today, who is still in Hawaii (he'll probably be there for another month or so). It made me think so thought I'd share it with everybody. ~ pinky

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Posted by Daisy.

Dear Pinky,

Today was "free day" at the Honolulu Academy of Arts so I went. There is an exhibition going on there at the moment that I know you would have been very interested in. It is called The Dragon's Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan and is an incredible collection of 100+ Buddhist objects, mostly paintings and sculptures. I wasn't able to photograph any of the objects in the exhibition for you, but here are a few shots from outside the museum:

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There was an introductory video running as you first enter the exhibit that gives a brief overview of Bhutan. In the video it was noted that in Bhutan, the state/success of the country is measured in GNH (Gross National Happiness), rather than GNP (Gross National Product). According to an independent study, Bhutan is ranked as the 8th happiest country in the world. The U.S.A. is ranked 23rd.

~Daisy

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Posted by Bunny: GNH seems like a good idea. Here's a few pieces from around the internet: Gross National Happiness and Development (an e-book in pdf form by the Center for Bhutan Studies, Karma Ura and Karma Galay, editors); Gross National Happiness: Towards Buddhist Economics (presentation paper by Sander G. Tideman); Gross National Happiness (short essay by Donald Ardell); The True Measure of Success (short article by Daniel Pink, Wired magazine). There's lots more - just Google "Gross National Happiness".

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Posted by Kim: Just to say the obvious - Bhutan has problems too: report from Radio Free Asia, 2006.

Counting down to 3 million YouTube views

Posted by Bunny.

Pretty soon. As of right now we have 2,921,545 views. When we hit 3 million all four of us + Daisy are going to celebrate with donuts and coffee. The Iraq War: Legal or Illegal episode went over 1 million YT views a few days ago too.

Also, for those of you who hate us so much and keep sending us threats and hate e-mail, please keep them coming. Nothing amuses me more than reading your pathetic and stupid comments.

Right now we are in the middle of producing our Hawaii episodes so we are not blogging as often. Our apologies to those of you who like the blogs. Kim & Mimi are busy doing some non-PS stuff at the moment so I can't ask them to blog.

~B.

New Homepage Picture

Posted by Pinky.

Bunny just posted a new homepage picture and I wanted to share some background information about it.

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The landscape photograph was taken at the Pali lookout on the island of Oahu, a site very popular with tourists. When you stand at the lookout and face north you have an expansive view of the windward side of the island, and it's just breathtaking. The site itself is all concrete and railings, with a large parking lot and hundreds of tourists coming and going constantly.​

It gets pretty crowded. We took this photo by standing on a wall. Most of the tourists were from Japan and the United States but we also met people from all over Europe, China, Australia, New Zealand, and more.​

We thought it was interesting that a lot of the people took photographs of the sign that had a picture & explanation of the landscape spread out in front of them, but hardly anyone actually stopped to read it. Average time looking at the sign must have been something like 10 seconds or maybe even shorter.

Here's a close-up of the sign (below, click on it for a much larger version).

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In the distance (right side of photo) is Mokapu peninsula. This was, and continues to be, a sacred place for Native Hawaiians - with ancient fish ponds, springs, archaeological sites, burial sites, temples... However in 1918 the peninsula was seized by executive order of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and given to the U.S. military. Now Mokapu is occupied by a very large U.S. Marine Corps Base, which of course sits directly on top of the aforementioned everything.

In Hawaii there are 10,000 other stories that follow this kind of logic. Our upcoming Hawaii-episodes will try to explain how Hawaii became a colonial holding of the United States of America, and at the same time we'll try to talk a little bit about some of the consequences and future implications that arise when one nation tries to erase another. I'll post updates on our progress here in my diary (a.k.a. "blog") for those of you who are interested in stuff like that.

~pinky

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Posted by Bunny: If you want to see something crazy, go check out the Marine Corps Base Hawaii's website (example screen capture here below). They actually have the nerve to talk about protecting and respecting sacred Native Hawaiian sites even as they bomb, build on, dump on, dig up, burn, or otherwise destroy hundreds of sacred sites throughout Hawaii. The photo of the burial mounds at Mokapu now transformed into a military golf course just blows my mind. They have no shame. ]

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Bunny Mailbag: World War II?

Posted by Bunny.

From the e-mail pile:

Dear Pinky, You've discussed various wars on your show, but one, large war that you haven't touched upon much is World War II... I have heard many different opinions, but I would love to hear yours... Thanks! Kachie

My reply:

Dear Kachie, My friend Teacup has the most right-on, succinct characterization of the Second World War that I’ve ever heard: "World War II was basically a turf war between imperial powers." I can go with that. Thank you for your question. Bunny

~B.

New conversation piece: Oceans as Trash Cans

Posted by Bunny.

We have a very nice interview with Captain Charles Moore of Algalita Marine Research Foundation - click here to read it.

By the way, Capt. Moore and crew just finished their month-long 2008 expedition through the North Pacific Gyre. The AMRF website has an excellent blog with lots of photos that documents the entire voyage with daily entries. If you like the PS interview I think you will enjoy reading the blog too. You can find it here (note: the entries are posted blog-style, with the earliest entries at the bottom of the page and the most recent at the top - in other words you gotta read these things backwards).

Stay away from those plastics.

~B.

I Miss Hawaii

Posted by Pinky.

Coming back to the desert is always nice (because I do love the desert) but after staying in Hawaii for over a month I guess I'm feeling a little sad. And cold. I don't know exactly why I feel sad but I do. I don't know how long this feeling will last.

We were really busy the whole time we were there so I didn't have much time to 'play' or do anything that wasn't research or production-related. A couple times Bunny or Daisy suggested that maybe I could spend some time looking for my mommy but in the end I didn't do any of that. I wouldn't know where to start and I don't even know what she looks like. As you probably know lots of times kittens don't look anything like their mommies.

Bunny, Daisy, and I all learned a huge amount from the Hawaii-people while we were there. I hope you don't mind if I don't summarize everything we did in Hawaii right now - it's too much stuff to list and my head is crowded with ideas that need sorting. The noise in my head is similar to children smashing Lego with small hammers. I'll just try to bring everything together in the Hawaii episodes we're working on.

On the way back we stopped in Los Angeles and spent a few days there - UCLA's research libraries in the evenings and a bunch of assorted interesting stuff during the days: we saw the Takashi Murakami exhibition at the Geffen (just amazing); visited the National Resources Defense Council offices in Santa Monica (we're going to try to do an episode about environmental racism with them); Museum of Jurassic Technology (again, I love that place) and the Center for Land Use Interpretation (first time for me, I was really impressed) in Culver City (not far from where Bunny and I first met); and we even took a day trip up to San Simeon with our friend Tim to see Hearst Castle (truly nauseating/fascinating).​

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These are from the Murakami show. Thank you Pam for the lovely buttons.

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Oh so ironic to find this parking sign in Los Angeles (the space was empty).

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Indoor swimming pool, Hearst Castle.

Traveling can be fun but it's a really wonderful to all be back together in one place again. I missed Mimi and Kim a lot. One nice thing about being away is that while we were gone Kim did a bunch of blogging and decided that it's not so bad. So according to her she'll be blogging "sometimes" from now on. It would be great if Mimi would blog too, she always has an interesting (some might say 'bizarre') way of looking at things. We spent a few days sorting through the mountain of material we brought back from Hawaii and I think we have a pretty good outline for how to proceed now.

I just read through this entry and it's quite a mess with all the jumping from topic to topic, isn't it? I'll try again tomorrow. I think I'm tired; my eyes are throbbing. @.@

Finally, before I head off to bed, I wanted to extend my deepest 'thank you' to everyone that has been teaching and helping us these past few weeks and months: Eiko, Karen, Candace, Callie, Dean, Heijin, Jackie, Lianne, Bianca, Po'ohina, Bunzie, Fran, Daniela, Brian, Kekuni, Terri, Kyle, Joan & Puhipau, Paul, Richard & Nancy, Bok-dong, Nancy, Jon, Teacup, Tinkerbell, Su-Fei, Tim, Maya & Emi, Pam, Tim's Mommy & Daddy, Jon's Mommy & Daddy, Stan, Dennis, Lori, and Lisa. I'm sure I've forgotten to include everyone - my sincerest apologies.

~pinky

Hawaii -> Los Angeles -> Desert

Posted by Bunny.

Hi. Pinky and I are finally back in the desert and production on our multi-part Hawaii project is already moving forward. Tentatively we are thinking that it will end up being a four-part project. Part 1 is a two-take quickie tour of the island of Oahu and kind of functions like an introduction. Part 2 is about colonialism and settler colonialism. Part 3 is a case study of colonial space. Part 4 is kind of like an oral history piece. We may add other parts later. Hawaii is an amazing and complex place and I hope we will be going back soon in order to learn more.

Also the fish in Hawaii is fantastic.

~B.​

Pinky Show Presents

Posted by Bunny.

Just posted our newest 'episode'. It is a re-presentation of an excellent documentary made in 2006 by Na Maka o ka Aina for Earthjustice, the non-profit public interest law firm. A quick summary:

When the biotech industry decides to use the lands and people of Hawaii as its test guinea pig, local farmers, activists, researchers, and others speak out.

You can watch the video here.

~B.​

I Officially Do Not Understand Americans

Another diary entry by Kim.

Americans love polls. And polls love politics. Here are some polling Q&A that made my head hurt:

• Over one-third of Americans believe that America is 'not ready' for a woman president. (CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll, December 2006) Is there something wrong with women that I don't know about?

• 41% of Americans would not vote for a presidential candidate if s/he were homosexual, even if s/he were well-qualified (Gallup Poll, December 2007). According to a 2006 Gallup Poll, 91% of Americans say that they believe that America is 'not ready' for a gay or lesbian president. (Incidentally, another poll [CNN/ORC Poll, May 2007] found that 71% of Americans feel that policies towards gays and lesbians are either "Moderately Important" [30%] or "Not That Important" [41%]!)

• 48% of Americans would not vote for an atheist. (Gallup Poll, December 2007)

• 45% of Americans say they would be 'less likely' to vote for a presidential candidate if they were Muslim. (Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, and pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, August, 2007)

• Americans are 'less likely' to vote for a Mormon (29%) than someone who's been divorced twice (26%). (ABC News/Washington Post Poll, February 2007).

• 14% of Americans say that political lobbyists have 'too little' power and influence in Washington D.C. 18% think nonprofit organizations have 'too much' power and influence. (Harris Poll, February, 2007)

• 58% of Americans feel that corruption is 'widespread' in Washington. (CBS News/New York Times Poll, October 2006)

• When asked "How much of what is said in commercials for or against a political candidate do you believe?", 69% of Americans answered with 'not much' or 'nothing at all'.

• A CBS news poll (January 2008) asked the question: "Which one is more important to you in a presidential candidate: having the right experience, or having fresh ideas?" Most Democrats favored 'fresh ideas' while most Republicans favored "right experience". I don't think this is a good poll because it did not provide alternative choices such as "stale ideas" or "wrong experience", or even various permutations of the above - for example, "the right experience with wrong ideas", which is what I would have selected had I been polled.

Okay, I lie down now.​ ~kk.

Let Bender Vote!

Posted by Bunny.

The past few weeks Pinky has been at the library practically every night so until she is done with her Hawaii-research you get me or Kim writing blogs.

Last night I was watching some old Futurama cartoons and came across this:​

​[ funny Futurama video that used to be here deleted from internet ]

That's funny.

But it also made me think. When Bender (the robot guy) said that he can't vote because he's a former convicted felon, I wondered if that was something that's based in reality or not. So I looked it up.

Come to find out, the right to vote is different from state to state. Almost every state in the U.S. does not allow people currently in prison (felony conviction) to have any voting rights. Most states reinstate their right to vote upon release from prison (in some states there is a period of time where they can't vote right away). But in other states if you've ever been convicted of a felony you are barred from voting for life.

To me, this is unfair. What kind of 'conventional wisdom' could provide a logical argument for disenfranchising over 5 million thinking adults in this country? Universal suffrage (which I've heard people refer to the U.S. as having) is supposed to extend voting rights to all adults regardless of race, sex, beliefs, intelligence, economic status or social status.

So why are prisoners being singled out for exclusion? It's not like they're stupid. Nor are they evil (if you believe prisoners are stupid or evil you need to meet more prisoners and ex-prisoners). Do you think allowing prisoners to vote would result in the election of evil candidates? (we are not doing so well in this regard already, and they are being elected by supposedly non-evil non-ex-felons) Actually, it makes sense that we should value the votes of prisoners. I think they are a group of people who have a unique and valuable insight into matters of law, power, and the inner workings of society. They are often the people whose lives have been most directly impacted by the issues that politicians like to talk about.

Plus! If you look at who has the highest rates of convictions and incarceration in this country, I think you can make a reasonable argument that the disenfranchisement of prisoners and ex-prisoners is not only unwise but also… racist and classist? Maybe?

~Bunny.

There Are Only Two Parties

Posted by Kim.

Not! It just seems that way. Do you know why only Republicrats get to be on TV?

Just a friendly reminder:

Green Party [ www.GP.org ]

Libertarian Party [ www.LP.org ]

Socialist Party USA [ www.sp-usa.org ]

United States Marijuana Party [ www.usmjparty.com ]

And actually there are more. I'm not endorsing any particular political party, I just wanted to remind everybody that there are parties beyond just the Republicans and Democrats.

And while you're at it, please read up on different political forms a nation can take. The United States is a constitutional republic, but what is that exactly and what does that mean? What are the alternatives?

~kk.

Death & Taxes

Posted by Kim.

Back in 1982, after witnessing a million people protest nuclear weapons in New York's Central Park, then-U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig said: "Let them march all they want, as long as they continue to pay their taxes."

That's a very practical way of looking at things, isn't it?

Well. It's true that I don't want to support U.S. imperialism, which of course includes imperialist wars. It's also true that the U.S. government needs lots and lots of money to pay for imperialist wars. And I do feel sick to my stomach that over 40% of the taxes that I pay (yes, I pay taxes) are being used to buy bullets to shoot people with, and for bombs and such. I don't want to pay for this kind of thing. So I've been looking for options.

Here are some links to information I've found so far:

Don't Buy Bush's War @ CodePink

War Tax Resistance info @ War Resisters League

Taxstrike @ Against the Wall Network

2008 War Tax Boycott

It would be great if us taxpayers got to choose where to send our tax dollars. Like, "divert all my money from the military and war spending and spend it on building houses for homeless people and cleaning up the environment instead". Okay, maybe there'd be 'too much' money for the environment and not enough money for fixing pot holes in the roads, but overall I think that's a minor problem compared to our very expensive addiction to death-culture.

What do you think? I'm not an economist but the idea of a war tax boycott sounds reasonable to me.

~kk.​​

Oh My How Times Have Changed

Posted by Kim.

While Bunny and Pinky enjoy sun and food in Hawaii, I am stuck here in 40°F weather reading Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. I'm not really complaining, it's actually very fascinating to see what kind of impressions this guy had of the United States in 'the early years' (~1831). For example, this part:

It is difficult to say what place is taken up in the life of an inhabitant of the United States by his concern for politics. To take a hand in the regulation of society and to discuss it is his biggest concern and, so to speak, the only pleasure an American knows. This feeling pervades the most trifling habits of life; even the women frequently attend public meetings and listen to political harangues as a recreation from their household labors. Debating clubs are, to a certain extent, a substitute for theatrical entertainments: an American cannot converse, but he can discuss, and his talk falls into a dissertation. He speaks to you as if he was addressing a meeting; and if he should chance to become warm in the discussion, he will say "Gentlemen" to the person with whom he is conversing.

In some countries the inhabitants seem unwilling to avail themselves of the political privileges which the law gives them; it would seem that they set too high a value upon their time to spend it on the interests of the community; and they shut themselves up in a narrow selfishness, marked out by four sunk fences and a quickset hedge. But if an American were condemned to confine his activity to his own affairs, he would be robbed of one half of his existence; he would feel an immense void in the life which he is accustomed to lead, and his wretchedness would be unbearable. I am persuaded that if ever a despotism should be established in America, it will be more difficult to overcome the habits that freedom has formed than to conquer the love of freedom itself. (from Chapter 14: WHAT ARE THE REAL ADVANTAGES WHICH AMERICAN SOCIETY DERIVES FROM A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT)

Wow. I realize a lot can change in 200+ years but to me it sounds like America has undergone a radical personality transplant.

~k.

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Posted by Bunny: Hi Kim, thanks for the blogging. If you have time I'd like to hear your thoughts on de Tocqueville's chapter on the 'three races' in America - 'Whites, Negroes, and Indians'. ]

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Posted by Kim: To me, race is one of the hardest concepts for cats to understand. Why do human beings have race? Better to ask Daisy, I think.

President to Nation: We Must War of Aggression!

Another Diary entry by me, Kim.

Our friend Richard at Hawaii People's Fund sent us an e-mail with a link to some great information today. It is called Iraq: The War Card: Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War, and is a section of The Center for Public Integrity's website. There are some analytical commentaries and also an archive of 'old' (2002 seems like a long time ago already) video footage of Bush administration people hyping the case for war, an excellent bibliography, and so on. I just spent the last 3 or 4 hours reviewing the information and it is very good. There's actually no "new" information here - I think we pretty much read up on this stuff while we were researching our own Iraq War episode - but I am very happy that some people are willing to take the time to put so much information together in a way that I can go back and rethink what has happened.​

example graph from the War Card website.

Pinky is always reminding us how important it is to study history. If we don't study history of course it's going to be harder to see what's being done to us right now in the present. Like Iran. If the American people do not stop their government from warring on Iran, I will be even more disgusted and angry.

Angry cats!

Now I am reading about How to Buy a President. I know I am not in a position to suggest ideas but I would like to see a companion website called How to Have Democracy. (not fake democracy)​

New Episode: What's Wrong with GMOs?

Posted by Bunny.

We have a new Pinky Show Radio episode. Today's topic: What's Wrong with GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms)? It's an interview with Jeffrey Smith, founder of the Institute for Responsible Technology. It's a fairly in-depth interview (almost 45 minutes) - a nice change from the typical 5-minute radio story or 1-minute news story. You can listen to the show here.

~B.

Food: GMO or Not?

Posted by Kim.

Short post today, I'm in the middle of a really good book.

Bunny has been doing a lot of research about GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) lately. I like food so of course the big question for me when I am marketing is "What should I be avoiding?". Here is a good list that she sent me yesterday:

http://www.truefoodnow.org/shoppersguide/guide_printable.html

Also make sure you check out the rest of the True Food Network website too. It's a good website to keep you up to date on the ongoing struggle to keep food healthy and safe.

I'll post other good lists when I find them.

~k.

January 20 is National Sanctity of Human Life Day

Posted by Kim.

Still guest blogging for Pinky until she is back from Hawaii.

In the news: On Friday, President Bush made a proclamation that kind of blew my mind. Here it is:

On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we recognize that each life has inherent dignity and matchless value, and we reaffirm our steadfast determination to defend the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society.

America was founded on the belief that all men are created equal and have an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and our country remains committed to upholding that founding principle. Since taking office, I have signed legislation to help protect life at all stages, and my Administration will continue to encourage adoption, fund abstinence education and crisis pregnancy programs, and support faith-based groups. Today, as our society searches for new ways to ease human suffering, we must pursue the possibilities of science in a manner that respects the sacred gift of life and upholds our moral values.

Our Nation has made progress in its efforts to protect human life, and we will strive to change hearts and minds with compassion and decency. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day and throughout the year, we help strengthen the culture of life in America and work for the day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Sunday, January 20, 2008, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

- GEORGE W. BUSH

When I read this my first thought was, "Is this a prank?" Because really - is there anybody out there with a track record like his (human rights abuses, war criminality, shredding constitutional rights, etc.) that would allow themselves to speak publicly about "defending the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society" or "respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being"? Of course not! Any normal person would feel too ashamed.

I was confused enough that I finally called Daisy to ask him about it. Well Daisy explained to me that President Bush is not contradicting himself at all. He said that my confusion was coming from the fact that people like President Bush just have a different definition of human life. He said President Bush and his friends only believe in the sanctity of human life in that time frame beginning with conception, right up until 1 second before you're born.

Okay, that helped a lot. You know, politics wouldn't be so hard to understand if politicians would just include definitions and explanatory footnotes whenever they try to say something.

~k.

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Posted by Bunny: Kim said "President Bush and his friends only believe in the sanctity of human life in that time frame beginning with conception, right up until 1 second before you're born." I would add that these people also believe that from the moment of birth onwards, your body belongs to the state.