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Going green means more than just saving the Earth for the military, it means saving lives. [cnn.com] Poaching is a problem in developed countries as well. [bbc.com] As some species like the Swedish wolf are threatened or endangered, other species are newly discovered. [bbc.com] A new way to travel between cities that is cheap and green. [latimes.com] As we celebrate a week of 'no politics' on The Recovering Politician, let's share just what such a vacation means to us. For me, it means, switching off from the news about politicians and what they are or are not achieving. It means turning off the tv, the radio, the news websites, the computers and all the other 'connected' devices. It means walking right past the tv as the stock market plunges and talking heads gyrate on the screen. It means not allowing ourselves, for one week, to worry about retirement or our child's education. As ghastly as it sounds, it means putting despair about starving children on 'pause' for just a week and letting others, like Bono and Anderson Cooper, do the worrying.
Taking a vacation means temporarily putting aside obligations to 'keep up with the news', do community work, check on extended family members, meet responsibilities and finish 'chores' around the house. It means just kicking back with spouses and children to do a puzzle, play cards, build with blocks, paint with watercolors, visit a museum, hike a trail, have a beer in the afternoon, swim, take a nap, and to marvel at this vast country by visiting somewhere new.
And to politicians, I’d say this…”take a break!” be normal people, spend time with your family, read a novel, vegetate. For one week, don’t make a political calculation. the latter might be the single hardest thing to do. And please, when the week is over and you are recharged, please come back and think differently. Cast your gaze away from the economy, towards the environment…Fresh air and fresh water hold the key to life itself and in restoring both, we just may create enough economic activity to put the economy right again. It may even enable us to relieve the very worst suffering in this world, that of a starving child. What’s scarier, the fact that three people got killed from a rare amoeba that thrives in rivers, or that a brain-eating amoeba actually exists? [Time] A French company is under fire after releasing a new line of adult-inspired lingerie… for young girls. [CNN] One Colorado school district works to make school lunches better and healthier for growing kids. Maybe other districts around the country will take note? [NY Times] Why are we wired to be constantly busy? [Psychology Today] I concluded my previous blog post pondering whether or not any superheros had ever been created that I would actually feel were worthy of kids’ admiration. After a top five list of some of the best superheroes from mainstream comic books… all of them fell way short. Are there any nonviolent superheroes outside of mainstream comic books that are worthy of acclaim and true admiration? Well, as it turns out– YES! Far more than you’ll find on the shelves of comic book stores these days. Here’s my top five list of superheroes that exist solely outside of comic books: There’s a wonderful book that my daughter loves for me to read to her. It is called Hooray for Our Heroes by Sarah Albee and Tom Brannon (ISBN: 978-0375822681). This book alone makes me love Super Grover.
4.) The Super Readers (Whyatt Beanstalk aka Super Why, Princess Pea aka Princess Presto, Red Riding Hood aka Wonder Red, and Pig aka Alpha Pig) This PBS TV series is aimed at children from ages three to six and teaches reading skills including spelling, pronunciation, the alphabet, writing, phonics, and word usage.
What better than a chance to save the world– yourself? Wildfire* is a game that gives you the power to make real change, and let’s you see what you will do with it. (If you like this idea, check out other games like it here ) Wildfire is a game about saving the world. Opponents like rampant poverty, gender inequality, inadequate education and environmental degradation cannot be defeated by marching armies, secret potions, or magic swords– but they can be defeated by YOU. Read the rest of… As Politics Free Week comes to a close tomorrow, we are already looking forward to our next venture. As promoted earlier, the week of August 22, we will dedicate the site every day to what’s wrong with politics and how it can be fixed. We’ve already received several submissions, but we still want to hear from you. Please send us your essays on how to fix the American political system — one specific part, or the whole darn thing (1500 words or less) — by Saturday night, August 20 to Staff@RecoveringPolitician.com. It’s up to you, RP Nation. Please join us! Much to the great chagrin of all of us at the RP Nation, the RP is breaking his sacred vow of no-politics-week, and will appear on Fox News’ Fox and Friends talk show tomorrow (Friday) morning at 7:15 AM EDT. The RP will be participating in a roundtable that will discuss a recent Media Research Center report which found that “in the first half of this year, NBC, ABC and CBS morning and evening news shows attached the term ‘conservative’ to a presidential contender 62 times, while during the same period in the presidential race in 2007, ‘liberal’ came up only three times.” Tune in tomorrow as the RP enters the lions’ den for the first time in 23 years. And to prepare yourself, check out video of the last time the RP appeared on a contentious cable TV talk show (disguised as Justin Bieber — years before the Beebs was born): The Pompatus of Speed
Here is a pretty definitive and comically-executed tug-of-war between a Ford truck and Chevy truck. (The Ford is on the left). [Youtube] The California DMV has released their list of banned vanity license plates. It is a pretty interesting article. If you’ve ever wondered if that risque vanity plate you have been considering would be allowed, this will give you a good idea. [NBC Bay Area] Jalopnik has the “Ten signs it’s time to let your car die.” My favorite is “when Google no longer helps.” [Jalopnik] Your most recent ESPN NASCAR power rankings keep Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson at 1 and 2. Also featured is Kurt Busch taking a tumble and Junior gaining a few spots. [ESPN] A GM engineer managed to squeeze 3,108 mpg out of a Chevy Volt. That equates to driving 1,554 miles on half a gallon of gas. You have to admit that the new technology we are seeing come from the auto industry can do some pretty awesome things. [Jalopnik]
London is burning, and no one knows why. It’s been a week since anarchy took over the city of London and some of its suburbs. The cause: the wrongful shooting of a man in a poor neighborhood. But it seems as if the protests aren’t even about that anymore. Gangs are looting every store in sight and carrying out TVs and computers. Historic buildings that have been around since World War II are now piles of ash and rubble. One particularly harrowing YouTube clip shows a group of people helping a crying, injured child– while simultaneously stealing everything out of his backpack. The violence is still going, with no sign of stopping. I won’t pretend to have the answers to a massive political conflict; this is Politics-Free Week at The Recovering Politician, after all. What matters is that this destruction is tearing apart one of the most amazing places in the world. Here’s my love letter to London, the historic, diverse city that many of us know and love. Read the rest of… Latest “Google Doodle” celebrates Fermat’s last theorem. Learn more about it here. [PCWorld] Al Qaeda’s next target is….David Letterman? [EOnline] Abercrombie and Fitch stock price plummets after dissing “Jersey Shore.” [TMZ] Jackie Chan is alive and well, but the phenomenon of celebrity death hoaxes is alive and well. [Christian Science Monitor]
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