“In the next 24 hours, deforestation will release as much CO2 into the atmosphere as 8 million people flying from London to New York” from Deforestation: The hidden cause of global warming

Didn’t anyone read the lorax. Harder to uncut trees then to cut them. This is the humpty dumpty principle…this is humpty dumpty, this is humpty dumpty on drugs. Any questions?

PS: humpty dumpty at 350 degrees for 3 minutes with some cheese and broccoli…very tasty.

Our resident food expert Wayne found that Seattle sometimes has better news about Oregon than Oregon does: Seattle times link.

The Chinese factory linked to the pet food pet deaths has been torn down. By the owner to hide evidence. Sounds like he was also hiding the melamine in feed for thousands of hogs and millions of chickens in the United States. And fish. In Oregon, we have 23 fish hatcheries known to have received the tainted feed.

Don’t worry, US officials say not to worry. But I don’t know if this is a Gonzales-like official, a Michael-Brown-like official, or a Rumsfeldian official.

Off to watch Fast Food Nation.

Spying in the Death Star: The AT&T Whistle-Blower Tells His Story

Mark Klein, a retired AT&T technician, sits quietly at the center of a high-profile legal storm hitting the nation’s largest telecommunications companies for allegedly helping the government spy on American citizens’ phone and internet communications without court approval…(more)

Does this mean that AT&T wins the patriot (act) award?

…To shake up the Status Quo!

Whether you are comedian Sarah Silverman, Al Gore, or my 8-year-old cousin Heather, it does not take much to recognize that global warming is changing our planet forever.

(Ya get that, Mr. President?)

As one of our dear bus mantras goes, “The youth of today with help to craft the discussion of tomorrow.” And, when it comes to global warming, not only do we need some serious community discussion, but we need some major AC-to-the-TION. And, now.

Check out this short clip of my little cousin breaking it down for us.

Heather talks at First Children Event in Maryland suburb about global warming and what we can do to stop it. She is a member of her elementary school’s young activist club.

She may live all the way on the other side of the country, but Heather is definitely on the Bus!

A “whoop whoop” and a major bus “boo-YA” for all of the young activist taking charge!

Feel inspired?
As Heather said, there are some easy things that we can all do to reduce our carbon foot-print.

Did you know that just by keeping the tires on your car adequately inflated, you could save 250 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $840 per year. Genius.
Click here to calculate your “Carbon and Cash Savings.”

Thanks to Blue Oregon for the heads up on this breaking story!

During his continuing series “Better know a District”…Steven Colbert serves an undeserved slam on Oregon’s 3rd before his story on Virginia’s 11th.

Here is the video:

And here is the original story on Oregon’s 3rd with Earl Blumenauer:

Luckily Blumenuaer is not taking this lightly and has issued a formal challenge in the Blue Oregon comments:

Posted by: Earl Blumenauer | May 9, 2007 8:56:40 AM

I want Colbert to get his sorry butt out to Oregon and say that to our faces. I challenge him…

Our very own Mark Frohnmayer has embarked on an epic adventure by train to Washington DC.  The purpose is to take his ideas and concerns to our representatives and I’m quite sure to promote the 6 E’s! 

A call to action from Mark:

To friends, family, co-workers, bus peeps and concerned Eugeneans: If you have anything you’d like to say to your representatives and senators in DC, whether about foreign policy, the state of things in Oregon, or whatever, I will gladly hand-deliver your message to their offices.  All you have to do is email me your letter, being sure to include your name and physical address, as well as to whom you’d like the letter delivered.  When I get to DC I’ll print out your emails and walk them over to the House and Senate offices.  I’m planning on doing this a week from tomorrow (Tuesday, May 15th), so sending them my way by a week from today will make sure I have time to get all the paper sorted out.  My email address is mark DOT frohnmayer AT gmail DOT com.

Shout out to the Eugene posse… You keep the spirit alive!

Send Mark your messages and best wishes! My only wish is that I could have made the timing work to join him on his travels.

Keep up with the Big Adventure Here!

How much of CNN’s front page is real news? Maybe the first — barely?
• CNNMoney: Dow hits best run in 80 years
• SI.com: Cardinals pitcher drunk in crash | Video
• Woman forgives cop for slinging her onto trunk
• Migrants’ boat capsizes in shark-infested waters
• Maid finds 3-month-old alone in Motel 6 room
• Sixth-grader admits killing ducks with pencil
• Paris Hilton hearing could lead to jail
• Artist creates ‘emotional maps’ of cities
• Rules bar dateless girl from her prom
• Bo Duke’s ‘General Lee’ selling at $10 million
• Cat too scary for Canadian mail carriers
• Duckling follows, grooms, naps with puppy

This makes me wonder if tabloids are having a hard time finding anything to print. Poor tabloids.

RIP investigative journalism…

In between downpours, I wandered down to the U of O street fair to grab some lunch. The political organizations were out in force. I gave $10 to the Human Rights Campaign, but I had to turn them down for a monthly membership…that $ is already devoted to a certain transportation themed organization!

Down by the EMU I came upon a very friendly booth that was jamming to the freestyle rapper down on the stage. It was Lynn and Alison representing for the Bus! It looks like the Vote F*cker t-shirts were flying off the shelves and my only regret was that I didn’t take advantage of the free candy bowl.

Way to kick it Street style Lynn and Alison!

ENVISION OREGON.

Join in an important conversation about the future of our state. Register Now for the Envision Oregon town hall in Eugene on May 3rd.

Last year, Oregonians from around the state gathered to identify common values and develop a vision for the future.  This year the discussion continues as Oregonians begin the work of making that vision a reality.  You are invited to join Round Two of Envision Oregon.

On Thursday, May 3rd you can be part of a large and diverse group of Oregonians that will come together to develop creative solutions to the challenges we face.  We will discuss policy choices that are a direct result of the visions and values participants shared in the Round One town halls around the state.

Thursday, May 3rd, 2007
5:30 pm - Registration begins
6:00 pm - Welcome by Pete Sorenson, Lane County Commissioner
9:00 pm - Adjourn

University of Oregon Recreation Center, Bonus Room 1320 15th Avenue (next to Hayward Field)

How do we retain the character of our communities while strengthening our economy? How is land use planning connected to quality of life? These questions, and the following topics, will be up for debate:

    * Jobs and the Economy
    * Towns and Neighborhoods
    * Land Use Fairness

Register Now for the Eugene town hall.

Learn more about the Eugene event here.

Always trying to find out the time and place for all of the amazing Lane Bus events and other “Six E” related happenings going down around town?

So are we!

LaneBus.org is happy to announce our new Calendar of Events!

The link to this can always be found at the top of the page if you forget where it is.

We’re just starting to fill it out, but we hope to include as many interesting political, community, progressive happenings as we can.

You can go to the Calendar page and see a monthly, or itemized list (Agenda view). Clicking on the event title will take you to a detailed description of that entry.

Please make use of the Submit an Event for the Calendar! link below the calendar if you know of anything cool that we may have missed!

If you happen to use Google Calendar, you can subscribe to and add this one to your own!