Karavans

US Courts Turn to Solar Power

The "Courthouse in a Gymbag" Solar Power Emergency Kit

US Courts are starting to utilize solar power as a backup energy source in the event of an emergency.

When an emergency happens, preparedness can save the day. That’s been the AO Office of Emergency Preparedness mantra to courts ever since September 11, 2001. Providing key decision makers with “go bags” is one way to ready them to dash out in an emergency, well prepared with the grab of one bag. Many courts have chosen to prepare with this “go bag” approach.

At the U.S. District Court, they call their readiness kit the “courthouse in a gym bag.”
In it are:

-A laptop set up for instant access to the Internet, to the judiciary’s virtual private
network (VPN), and data voice-over IP;

-A secure thumb drive with all key data needed in an emergency, accessible only with
the fingerprint of the authorized users—usually the thumb drive user, the court’s
COOP manager, and an IT manager;

-A long-lasting solar-charged battery pack;

-A car charger device;

-An adapter that allows anything with a plug to run off the power pack or car as power
supply;

-A digital recorder for judges to record key information during emergencies.

“How could you provide people with these resources as an emergency or disaster strikes?” asks Melissa Muir of Washington-Western. “The answer is, you couldn’t, not unless you’re always at the ready.

Karavans is the exclusive supplier of choice to US courts of the "Courthouse in a Gym-bag." emergency kits.

Latest Human-powered Car

The latest in automobile technology: a human powered car.

Green Washing Machine: Lose Weight Doing the Laundry

Human-powered appliances: green washing machine.

Part of the obesity epidemic stems from all the "labor saving" devices most households are cluttered with. Imagine being able to get in 20 minutes of cardio while using this device to do your laundry.

Solar Charger Sale

Looking for a great solar energy gift for yourself or someone else?

Consider the PowerDock line of solar-powered chargers for your small battery-powered electronics. The PowerDock Elite comes with its own battery which allows them to store energy in addition to recharging your gadget's batteries. With its battery the Powerdock solar charger serves as a storage backup.

The Elite makes a great introductory product for people interested in trying solar energy.

Click for more info on PowerDock solar chargers.

The PowerDocks are the chargers used by individuals, businesses, and other organizations which need reliable backup in emergencies and remote areas.

Regular Gaiam price is $349 plus s/h. Click the button to see our special sale price. Don't miss out. This is the best price anywhere.

Carnival of the Green #96

First of all, many thanks to Green Style  for hosting last week's Carnival of the Green.

Here are this week's Carnival of the Green submissions in the precise order that they came in:

Doris Chua presents I'm Not A Plastic Bag! posted at Doris Go Shopping.

Lifegoggles has a new ebook 100 Ways To Save The Planet.

Beth Terry writes Some of my best friends are plastic bags!  Many people consider plastic bags to be evil and have discarded them in favor of reusable totes.  Which is fine.  But this article is about saving old plastic grocery bags and reusing them in place of things for which we'd otherwise have to buy new plastic.  It emphasizes Re-use before Re-cycling.

John presents Number of Threatened Species Increasing posted at A DC Birding Blog.

Melanie Rimmer contributes a piece titled Everything I know about environmentalism, I learned from Star Wars.

Vihar Sheth presents The Debate Heats Up: Vegetarianism & Climate Change posted at green | rising.

Tiffany Washko presents Eco Friendly Friday Tip posted at Natural Family Living Blog.

Howard Ditkoff presents Emotional Responses to the Andrew Meyer & John Kerry Incident: A Psychological Study in Issues of Power, Anger and Authority posted at SystemsThinker.com Blog.

Aaron Newton submitted The 4 Day Work Week
The clear fact that a 4 day work week would save such a precious non-renewable resource is just the first of 16 reasons why I think it's time to revive the idea of reducing the numbers of days we work each week.

Nick Aster takes a look at the strange Media Exposure an oil refinery expansion is getting.

Amanda Hanley writes on 7 ways to reduce your exposure to PBDE flame retardants.
PBDEs are everywhere, and there's some evidence connecting them to brain and developmental problems in animals and possibly even cancer. Exposure to flame retardant chemicals is ubiquitous, but there are things you can do to keep the concentration of PBDEs in your body as low as possible.

On Tuesday, Leila of EveryDayTrash spent a surreal evening digging through New York City garbage with a group of freegans and a Japanese cable access film crew.

Eric Michael Johnson presents Twin Towers on a Pale Blue Dot posted at The Primate Diaries.

Eric Michael Johnson presents The Dangers of Technological Adolescence posted at The Primate Diaries.

Eric Michael Johnson presents Primate Experimentation Under the Microscope posted at The Primate Diaries.

Don from evaneco.com is live-blogging a nation-wide Christian environmental conference at Vineyard Church, Boise ID. His posts are here and being updated throughout the day.

Allie from AlliesGreenAnswers.com has contributed a piece on parabens.

Adam Williams contributes two more articles by Joel Williams:

Why the tube strike was good for London and Environmentally Friendly Plastic Bottles.

Andy presents Car Gas Experiment: Regular or Premium? posted at Money Walks.

Lisa C. Baker writes on The current news from Jena, LA gives an opportunity to rethink the NIMBY-ism of environmental injustice.

10,000 Birds submitted Long-lining - An Old Problem That Needs Solving Now.  As you can might surmise, it's about the environmental hazards and dietary implications of modern fishing practices. The author is Charlie Moores of 10,000 Birds.

Harlan Weikle has written  a piece on wine titled As American as apple pie, burgers and Napa Valley.

Marie at Green Fertility offers a post on organic chocolate.

Marilyn Terrell presents The Carbon Diet: Final Results: National Geographic Magazine posted at The Carbon Diet.

Marilyn Terrell for Jeannette Kimmel presents Goats Cut Carbon Emissions posted at Intelligent Travel.

Marilyn Terrell for Emily King presents True Nature Country Fair posted at Intelligent Travel.

Marilyn Terrell of Intelligent Travel blog presents Green Car Congress: Study: N2O Emissions from Biofuel Crop Production Negates Greenhouse Gas Benefits of Using Biofuels posted at Green Car Congress.

Idiot/Savant presents Climate change: preliminary analysis posted at No Right Turn.

David from Goodhuman.com has submitted a piece called What are GMO's and why you should avoid them.

Aundi presents Complexity Theory and Economies posted at Queercents.

Sue Luxton offers us an article on the Green Party of England and Wales "Does the Green Party Need a Leader?"

Chris Baskind offer tips for saving energy and preparing for autumn A Dozen Tips for a Greener Autumn.

Mary Ellen from Blue Voice submits a piece on pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson author of Silent Spring.

The October 1st host for the 97th Carnival of the Green will be World is Green.

The 4 Hour Workweek: Does it work?

There's a raging debate on Amazon and various blogs over whether or not the system Timothy Ferriss's proposes for escaping the cube farm really works or not.  His new book is The 4 Hour Workweek. The answer is yes it does work.  I am referring to his system for building online businesses which require very little of his time.

4 hour workweek

Second Life: The Saddest Place Online?

Speaking as someone who has struggled with a bit of an Internet addiction since 1995, my vote for the  saddest place on the Internet goes to the website known as "Second Life". For those who don't know Second Life, it's a place where people go in order to try to create a more fulfilling life than their "First Life." Even in the depths of my Net addiction 4 or 5 years ago, I would have scoffed at the notion of wasting my time and money in such a place.

Second Life reminds me of a classic Saturday Night Live skit from the 1980s which has William Shatner addressing Trekkies at a Star Trek convention. Something sets  Captain Kirk off, so that instead of giving  another canned talk to the audience, he decides to speak his truth and tell them that they are fools for investing more of their time in a fantasy world than in their real lives. As the audience stands before him in total shock at his outburst, he starts peppering them with questions. He looks at one nerdy, mid-thirtyish man holding two large shopping bags over-flowing with Star Trek memorabilia and asks, "Have you ever kissed a girl?" In response, the Trekkie just looks down at his shoes in utter defeat.

So my question to the denizens of Second Life is,  "Have you ever even kissed a girl?" Or boy, as the case may be.

Thankfully for me, the Net has slowly evolved into just another boring appliance. It's now just a bit more entertaining than the clothes washer. The Net's primary benefits for me are email and the elimination of trips to the library.

So what makes for a better life? Well, the short answer is "having a sense of community" in real life. Author Bill McKibben addresses this issue in an NPR interview he did last Friday. Note how Americans experienced their zenith in happiness in 1956. Happiness has been steadily sliding downhill ever since as we withdraw more and more into lives of isolation, where for many virtual discussion forums have become the sole means of socializing.

McKibben offers a valuable piece of advice on becoming instantly happier and adding years to your life: go join a group which provides real life socializing.

Almost any real life group will do:  it can be  a volunteer organization, a sports  or a church  club, a fitness club, the local bird watcher's society, etc.

The point is to socialize with your fellow human beings face to face.

Trust me on this one, on your death-bed you don't want to be regretting the fact that you wasted way too much time on the Internet.

Pat Robertson Fingers God as a Terrorist!

You can't make this stuff up! Here's a TV video capture of Pat Robertson fingering God as an accomplice to a terrorist attack on the USA coming later this year. Pay close attention to the last  part, where Pat openly admits that God knows all about it but won't lift a finger to assist Homeland Security in thwarting it.

Link to video of Pat fingering God as a terrorist.

Although I'm not a lawyer, I know that if you refuse to divulge information about a possible terrorist attack on the USA, you are as guilty as the people who actually plant the bombs or crash the planes.

Maybe a spell in Gitmo might loosen Pat's tongue?

Powerdock Solar-powered Chargers

Looking for a great solar energy Christmas gift for yourself or someone else?

Consider the PowerDock line of solar-powered chargers for your small battery-powered electronics. Three out of the four PowerDock models come with their own battery which allows them to store energy in addition to recharging your gadget's batteries. With the battery the Powerdock solar chargers serve as a storage backup. The fourth version comes without a battery.

The batteries come in three sizes: 9.2, 7.0, and 4.6 Amp-hours to meet your individual needs.

Click for more info on PowerDock solar chargers.

The PowerDocks are the chargers used by individuals, businesses, and other organizations which need reliable backup in emergencies and remote areas.

19 Year Old Diebold Technician Wins U.S. Presidency

19 Year Old Diebold Technician Wins U.S. Presidency

By Ion Zwitter, Avant News Editor
Washington, D.C., November 5, 2008

In a dramatic development that has come as a surprise to pundits and the public alike, a youthful technician with Diebold, Inc. has emerged as the unlikely winner of the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. The president-elect, 19 year old Billy Pustule of Green, Ohio, reached via SMS at the garage apartment by his mother's house in which he currently resides, said he was "real psyched about being the president" and "had big plans for the inauguration party".

Read the rest of the article here.

Thanks to the peeps at Idleworm for finding this one.