For Him I Sing by Walt Whitman

FOR him I sing,
(As some perennial tree, out of its roots, the present on the past:)
With time and space I him dilate—and fuse the immortal laws,
To make himself, by them, the law unto himself.


"I stand in awe of my body."- Henry David Thoreau


The shack and a few trees
float in the blowing fog

I pull out your blouse,
warm my cold hands
on your breasts.
you laugh and shudder
peeling garlic by the
hot iron stove.
bring in the axe, the rake,
the wood

we'll lean on the wall
against each other
stew simmering on the fire
as it grows dark
drinking wine.

- After Work by Gary Snyder

IRANIAN YOUTH MAY BE EXECUTED FOR BEING HOMOSEXUAL

Mehdi Kazemi, a young iranian youth studying abroad in britain, may soon be deported to his home country and executed for being a homosexual. Iranian officials learned of Kazemi's sexual orientation after Kazemi's former boyfriend revealed Kazemi's identity under torture and was then himself executed. The Iranian government is currently seeking to deport him and there is a warrant out for his arrest in Iran. though members of the House of Lords signed a letter to the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom and are rallying for his support, Kazemi has already lost his appeal for asylum in the UK. Kazemi is currently hiding out in the Netherlands, but the UK is demanding that he return to the UK by the 26th. If Kazemi is eventually returned to Iran he will almost certainly face execution.

In my opinion the reason this situation is going the way it is is two-fold. Firstly, the UK and other european nations are on relatively good terms with Iran, so breaking convention to protect Kazemi could pose a threat to international affairs. Also, our very own United States government, a clear enemy of Iran well known for our tendency to become involved in humanitarian crises, is frankly currently under an administration that wouldn't lift a finger to help gays.

If you want to read more about this, click the link below.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/peers-lobby--smith-to-halt-deportation-of-gay-iranian-794995.html

Also, if you want to sign a petition to help save Mehdi Kazemi, click on the link below.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/UKMADHI/

600 PROTEST GLOBAL WARMING BY GETTING NAKED ON A GLACIER

Installation artist Spencer Tunick, famous for inciting random acts of nakedness in various locales, recently allied with Greenpeace to speak out against global warming, with the help of 600 volunteers who posed naked on a melting glacier in switzerland. According to Tunick and Greenpeace, these photographs are meant to represent the fact that the glacier, though seemingly hard and indestructible is fragile and sensitive much like a human body. By associating the glacier with this massive visual wall of human flesh, he is perhaps implicating us in it's destruction and stating that by allowing global warming to continue we are only making ourselves more vulnerable.

read more about that here-
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/naked-glacier-tunick-08182007

ASIANS TAKE IT OFF FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

A plan proposed by China's state council allows office workers to wear T-shirts to work as opposed to the standard coat and tie in order to keep them cooler and reduce the need to crank the air conditioning. Air conditioning, according to the China Daily, accounts for 30 to 50 percent of energy output in office buildings, so reducing it's usage could actually help cut back carbon emissions. Frankly, I think they just need to take it all the way and bring nudity into the workplace. Similar plans have been put into action in Japan.

Read more about that here- http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,488739,00.html

YOUR LIBERATION IS EARTH'S LIBERATION

Below is an illustration by Ron Rege Jr, the drummer for the band Lavender Diamond. You can click on the picture to see a larger version.

SAVE NORTHERN ROCKIES WOLVES!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/us/22wolves.html?hp

Wolves in the rockies have been delisted as a threatened species by the good old Bush administration. Unless this decision is overturned in court soon, fifty percent or more of them will die. the governors of each state have set a limit of 150 animals per state, and it seems that farmers will go to drastic lengths (aerial gunning from helicopters) to kill these vulnerable communities of animals. It is now only a matter of time until there are about 450 animals from the previous amount (just over 1000). I mean, there are more people living in my tiny mile square hometown than there are rockies wolves. The solution to the problem cannot be death to an animal that is still so vulnerable! I would have more to say but I'm still a little numb right now.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/806854919


above is a petition if you want to help.

The Idaho politicians are completely honest about there intent; they plan to decimate 80% of a population that has just come off the endangered species act. Although wolves have given cattle farmers trouble, the number of cattle killed by wolves is somewhat marginal in comparison to the number of cattle who die due to disease. For me, nothing can justify the decimation of an entire way of life, and alternatives can surely be found. I ask you, who is controlling the human population? Please act now to save Northern Rockies wolves.

AL GORE JUST GOT OG STATUS

gangst of the week- MOS DEF

Other than Andre 3000 being named "Sexiest Vegetarian of the Year" in 2004 and several fierce messages about hurricane Katrina, I don't think I've ever seen a member of the hip hop community discussing environmental issues. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to see the always charming Mos Def sit down with Al Gore and talk about global warming.... on MySpace, of all places.
http://creative.myspace.com/groups/_cc/artonart/algore&mosdef/aona_goredef.html
Hip hop is probably the most popular genre of music in America right now. Although their conversation is a little brief it is good to see a rapper in this different role.