Strengthen the EPA and Clean Air Act [P.S. for St. Patrick's day I wore my GREEN - my green 350.org t-shirt!!]

Gotta get over to PennFuture Philly to bid my good wishes to Christine Knapp. She is moving on to help run the massive, new federally funded innovation center — the GPIC at the Navy Yard.

CONGRATULATIONS, Christine!

[next reason: fight to strengthen the Clean Air Act *and* the EPA as a watchdog and protector of the environment in which everything happens & on which everything depends.

Bill

March 18, 2011

Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without. - early American saying -

Choose how you prefer civic dialogue to occur.

Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without. - early American saying -

Bill

Puma's 'Clever Little Bag' Slashes Sneaker Packaging | Design | GreenBiz.com

Puma's 'Clever Little Bag' Slashes Sneaker Packaging | Design | GreenBiz.com

Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without.
- early American saying -

BOSTON HERALD 091111 Study: ‘Green’ jobs surge limited

Study: ‘Green’ jobs surge limited

posted by Wm Marston, LEED-AP - Philly

Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without.
- early American saying -

Streetsblog: Daily News: Is There a Person in Your Parking Spot? Kill Them.

"Make my day" in the New York Daily News style.

Daily News: Is There a Person in Your Parking Spot? Kill Them.

Ke Hai Du. Photo: Daily News

Checkmate.

In the unofficial battle for the most irresponsible, over-the-top media endorsement of motorist entitlement, the Daily News took the trophy this morning, declaring that drivers are within their rights to run down human beings who stand between their vehicles and on-street parking.

Under an arguably racist headline, News editors claim that sushi chef Ke Hai Du got what he deserved when motorist Paul Todd hit him with his car during a dispute over a Lower Manhattan parking spot on October 9. According to reports, as Du stood in a space to hold it for his boss, Todd nudged his Lincoln into Du's knees, then ran over his foot, breaking it.

To many people accustomed to the norms of civilized society, this would seem a clear case of assault, if not something more serious. But to the News it's a game, which the victim rightfully lost when he challenged the "finders keepers" rule -- or, as News editors put it, "a basic and inviolable tenet of the universe."

What Du did is right up there with stealing a taxi from the person who hailed it, or bringing 15 items to the "10 items or less" register, or stopping at the top of a subway stairway to read e-mail, or backing up in an E-ZPass lane.

The lesson is clear: Park your carcass in a parking space, and you may end up as road kill.

Somehow Todd -- who at the scene reportedly said he "would do it again" -- escaped charges, though Du is suing him for $5 million. "I guess vehicular assaults are okay these days," Du's attorney told the News.

Indeed they are. And as for the rest of us, the next time someone annoys you with a social faux pas -- exiting a bus from the front door, say, or letting their dog's leash stretch across the sidewalk in front of you -- express your outrage through the use of deadly force. The Daily News will have your back.

Posted by Brad Aaron on October 22, 2009 (12:16 pm)

Link: http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/10/22/daily-news-is-there-a-person-in-your-parking-spot-kill-them/

HealthCare4ALLPA - Welcome!

HealthCare4ALLPA - Welcome!

Have you gotten tired of Congress' failure to listen to common sense (instead of to the jingle of re-election money in the phone calls from healthcare insurance giant lobbyists)?

As of today Pennsylvania is one of eleven states considering or enacting single-payer health insurance for a large percentage of state residents who qualify and/or who choose such a plan. Aiming for universal coverage and affordable subscriber rates in sensible plans that are also limiting the growth in the costs and charges for health care. Pennsylvanians intend to lead the nation.

Worth learning about? Listen to state director (and former candidate for the US Senate Democratic Primary) Chuck Pennacchio at HealthCare4allPA.org

Semester Master of Science in Sustainable Design

I have had the honor of teaching the Design Studio at Philadelphia University for the Fall 2008 Semester.  There are 8 candidates in my studio, which meets from 5:15 pm to 9:45 pm twice a week.

This is not part of the architectural education accrediting board's schools of architecture — it is broader and deeper than just "architecture" of buildings. In that regard one might characterize it as a "deep green" curriculum, at least for this semester if not across the board.

For example: all 15 students in both of the two studios were given a 6-week assignment: design a new fast-food chain restaurant prototype. They researched current and historic businesses, not all of them "successful" to learn about business models, product selections, market demand patterns, name and product branding and graphics, among other characteristics. This background part of the Project thus covered a range of types: from automat Horn and Hardart to Q'doba, from Boston Market to Subway.

They formed into teams of 4, conceptualized a few ideas and selected one of them to develop. Each team created a schematic business idea: a product, a market, a set of business principles and a scalable enterprise model. Remember that this is a prototype for a chain of retail restaurants.

In my studio the candidates created "Toss!" as a plate or edible "dish" of customer-chosen foods. All foods and nearly all serviceware were compostable on site, where some of the food products could also be grown. The form of the building was a modular assemblage of shipping container-like "rooms" which were pre-constructed and placed on a minimally prepared site infrastructure. Of course it generated nearly all of its power through solar harvesting, efficiency of envelope & equipment, and energy recovery-recycling systems.

The other team created "Brew" as a small scaled microbrewery and cold snack food pub. It was enhanced through selling the bulk of its beer as "take-out" via reusable growler bottles, thus minimizing needed interior dining space. It was situated in an existing 3-story rowhouse in anytown. Site selection criteria for a local franchise required a building able to harvest sunlight enough to support growth of hops and generation of hot water and electrical power.

Amazing work, in an incredibly short time.

My studio: Ari Barkan, Wendy Byar, Nicole Howard, Nora Lober, Chris Minnich, Andrew Richards, Lauren Schaefer and Tiffany Tabeek.

POSTED by blogger Prof. Marston, LEED AP

Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without.
- early American saying -

Language Frames the Topic and the Discussion

Choice of words, phrases, verbal images, and so on form the language of a position. Read George Lakoff, linguistics professor at UCal Berkeley. He wrote "Don't Think of An Elephant" (published by Chelsea Books September 2004)  concerning the upset among the losing Democratic Party concerning the  United States presidential & congressional elections of 2004.

This taught a lot of us about use of language to frame an argument, to sway people, to tell more truth than merely using facts.