Crimethinc. Tour Coming to Iowa City

To Change Everything: Anarchism and the New Social Movements

This Friday evening, an international panel of activists from around the globe will come together to discuss how "To Change Everything ." This touring panel is visiting 50 US cities this fall, and brings together organizers from Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and North America to discuss the significance of anarchist ideas and tactics in the 21st century.  All of the presenters are contributors to a recent Crimethinc. outreach and dialogue project, To Change Everything (TCE), which appeared earlier this year in over twenty languages. A free pdf of the book can be downloaded from the TCE webpage.

The participants will compare experiences from the wave of protests and uprisings that has swept the world since 2010—exploring the role of demand-based politics in both catalyzing and limiting movements, examining a variety of forms of repression, and critically evaluating experiments with direct democracy. They will conclude by assessing the prospects of contemporary struggles for self-determination in an era of globalized capitalism and state control.

Held at Public Space One in Iowa City, this event includes a light dinner- Kalmia's homemade vegan tamales! A suggested donation of $5 goes to pay for travel expenses for the speakers group.  Visit the event facebook page for more details.

CrimethInc., “The Ex-Workers Collective” is a radical anarchist media outlet started in the mid-1990's. They produce high-concept propaganda, including a biannual magazine, Rolling Thunder.  According to their website, it covers “passionate living and creative resistance in all the forms they take: from consensus process to streetfighting, from workplace struggles to graffiti art, from gender mutiny to subversive humor.” They produce a podcast, “The Ex-Worker,” as well as a number of books, posters, stickers and other anarchist media.

Public Space One is an artist-run, nonprofit arts organization that aims to provide an independent, innovative, diverse, and inclusive space for making and presenting art provide cultural educational opportunities, and advocate for the importance of art in everyday life for any and everyone. Public Space One is home to The IC Press Co-op, which offers community access and education in intaglio, relief, and silkscreen printmaking. 

Friday, October 2nd, 7:00 PM

Public Space One

120 N Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA

More info: https://goo.gl/TZyhGQ

Contact: Rich Dana, 319.530.6051

ricardo.obsolete@gmail.com

Meta Shop Class as Soulcraft Book Review and Book Repair How-To

I recently picked up a great book from a used bookstore. Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford is a fabulous book about what it means to be a person who works with their hands. Ironically, before I was finished, the hardcover edition from Penguin Books began to fall apart. So much for quality construction! A large section came loose in the middle, and then became completely detached from the spine. I’m faced with one of the modern dilemmas that Crawford points out in his book. Do I keep reading the book, letting it slowly fall completely apart? Do I simply throw it away and buy another copy? Or, maybe download an electronic version to my smart phone, perhaps? No, Dammit! I will fix it! [Read more…]

The Dymaxion House: The Tiny House of the Future, circa 1930

Buckminster Fuller understood the need for a move to tiny houses. Unfortunately for Fuller (and the rest of us), he was 80 years ahead of his time.

In the past 10 years, tiny houses have become extremely trendy, and not without good reason. The real estate market has proven to be turbulent, to say the least. Down-sizing to live within your means is a concept that is increasingly popular not only among millennials, but with their aging baby boomer parents as well.

Tiny houses – compact, single family dwellings under 400 square feet– stand in stark contrast to the American trend toward larger and larger homes that started in the 1970’s and peaked in the early 2000’s. The current fad in tiny houses utilizes highly designed, compact interior spaces that include most, if not all of the modern conveniences, while maintaining a very traditional, cute cottage exterior appearance that makes them more enticing to tiny house newbies. Despite their small footprint, tiny houses retain a warm, cozy feel, which is key to their appeal.

This charm factor, or more precisely the lack of perceived charm, may have lead to the demise of an early 20th century precursor to the tiny house movement of today. In 1930, visionary architect R. Buckminster Fuller designed the Dymaxion House, an 1,100 square foot cylindrical aluminum yurt-like dwelling that is as radical today as it was in the last century.
Read More

Lasagna Gardening – Compostilicious!

Last year, I posted an article about double-digging, and how to turn some problem soil rapidly into a healthy garden that you could plant right away. Well, summer has flown by, and although I double-dug a new strawberry patch large enough for 100 strawberry plants (which are doing great, by the way) there is another old patch of garden that I started several years ago, and then abandoned because the soil was just hard clay, and I planned to amend it “next year.” Well, yes, another next year has come and is rapidly going, and I managed to keep the weeds down before they went to seed, but there were just too many other projects that took priority over that old garden. This time, I pledged to make a preemptive strike! I am going to start a large-scale sheet composting operation and make the garden a lovely warm winter meal of lasagna!


Sheet mulching is a permaculture technique that utilizes alternating layers of different types of compost materials. By alternating your “greens” (nitrogen-rich, fresh plant material like grass clippings and kitchen peelings) and “browns” (older, dry material like leaves or straw) you can create compost right on top of the garden, where it is needed.
Read More

3D printers – Next Big Thing, or High-Dollar Techie Toy?

There is a whole lotta buzz out there about 3D printers right now. Folks are saying that 3D printing could be heralding in an era of “desktop manufacturing” echoing the major successes of desktop publishing in the 80’s, and desktop video in the 90’s. But is this fuhreals? Can the 3D printer unleash a new era of good ol’ American ingenuity?


I’ve had the opportunity to get up-close and personal with a couple of 3D printers lately at the Iowa Innovation Learning Center in Hiawatha, Iowa. I got the chance to develop and print my own original designs, as well as open source designs from sites like Thingiverse.com. I gotta say, this technology is serious FUN. Is it ready to save America’s manufacturing economy from the onslaught of CCC (Cheap Chinese Crap)? Honestly, probably not, but I do think that this scrappy upstart tech has some serious potential.
 Read More

Wood Chip Mulch – Free Friend or Fungusy Foe?

Wood chip mulch. Some people love it, others fear it! Wood chip mulch can be purchased for less than two bucks a bag at many home centers. Fancier, colored chips can be had for a little extra moolah. In many towns, wood chips from tree trimming and brush clearing are free for the taking at the local landfill or compost facility. Wood chips are really effective as mulch for suppressing weeds and retaining moisture, as well as adding carbon to compost piles… so what’s not to like about wood chip mulch? I mean, we are talking FREE here!! [Read more…]

Travelers Cross the Country in “Green Machine”

 

A young couple from Portland, Oregon recently stopped by the Sustainable Living Department on their cross country adventure that has taken them down the West coast, across the Southwest to New Orleans, up to Pennsylvania and New York, and back across the Midwest on their way home. Although Tom Walther and April Cummins drove a 1986 Ford Van, they did not burn fossil fuel on their journey. They made the entire trip fueled by waste vegetable oil.
This summer, the MUM Sustainable Living Department (SL) is in the process of moving our biodiesel brewing operation into a new facility. During the downtime, we have collected a backlog of waste vegetable oil (WVO) that we use to manufacture biodiesel for the SL vehicles. We placed an ad on Craigslist to get rid of some of the extra oil, and Tom responded.  “Craigslist is a great resource for finding oil,” April explained, saying that they had gotten oil in numerous ways, including online contacts and face-to-face meetings with friendly strangers. “In New Orleans, we just went around to local restaurants, and they were happy to share.”

Read More

The Manly Art of Sewing – Chapter 1

There is not a power tool that I am afraid to conquer!! Including… a sewing machine? Yes, it is true! Clothing construction is not that different from furniture construction, home construction, or any other type of construction. I am putting together something that everyone needs to use. I know how to measure, layout, cut and join materials. Sewing requires a great deal of technical proficiency and craftsmanship. The question is, why do so many men, even now, in the 21st century, still consider sewing “women’s work?” [Read more…]

18V Ridgid Gen5X Combo Kit Rocks!

For some reason, as I unpack the new Ridgid “Gen5X” tools, I started humming an old song by the 1970s punk rock band Generation X called “Your Generation.” Their vocalist (a young fella known as Billy Idol) snarled:

There ain’t no time for substitutes
There ain’t no time for idle threats
Actions are rather hard to place
Cause what you give is what you get

Okay, so it may be a bit of a stretch, but as far as cordless power tools go, Ridgid’s new 18 volt Gen5X lines are pretty punk rock! They are a little futuristic looking, but they combine both older and newer cordless technology. Above all, they perform with A LOT of power. Also, like Billy Idol, they seem to go forever! [Read more…]

Turn Your Yard into a Food Forest

Thankfully, spring is approaching. It’s time to start thinking about your yard!! This year, consider this. Would you like to mow less? Water less? Use less expensive and potentially dangerous chemicals? How about going out in the yard and picking fresh food any time you want? Try Permaculture!! What exactly IS Permaculture, you ask? Although “Permaculture” would be a great name for a reggae band, it is actually a term coined by two Aussies, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren back in the 70’s from the combination of the two words, “permanent agriculture.” Permaculture looks at a given area, like your yard, as a whole system made up of lots of interconnected parts. Patterning designs on a natural system like a forest or a prairie, “Permies” (as Permaculture fans refer to themselves) aim to create a personal environment that mimics nature. They combine plants that are beneficial to other plants and beneficial to the local environment, including the inhabitants, like birds, butterflies, bees, and even humans! Like a forest or a prairie, once a permaculture garden or yard is established, it is self sustaining, with very little maintenance. [Read more…]

Refurbished Machines, Recycled Vinyl, Analog Sound Quality...Heaven!

CNN recently did a nice piece on Brooklynphono!  The PAST is the FUTURE of music!

Solar Values = American Values

“By the way, if you want to have a war over oil, leave me out of it- because I don’t think we need it. All I have to say is, go solar! Go wind! Let a little freedom into your life, and help your neighbors stay free, too.”
Richard Perez, Publisher, Home Power Magazine- keynote address, I-Renew Energy Expo, Sept.8, 2001

Home Power #1: 1987

Just three days before the terrorist attacks that rocked the nation, Richard Perez, the publisher of the independent renewable energy publication Home Power addressed a packed audience at one of the nations oldest gatherings of wind and solar power enthusiasts. He inspired the audience with a talk about the importance of freedom. Freedom to make one’s own choices, and accepting the responsibilities that come with that freedom. It has been more than 13 years since Perez gave that speech and the solar landscape has changed immensely. Solar is no longer primarily the purview of off-grid survivalists and back-to-the-land hippies. The installed price of solar has dropped from above $10 per watt to under $4. More states around the nation are encouraging solar development, and the economic benefits of solar are becoming more obvious by the day. And yet, there remains a strong anti-solar contingent in the United States. But why? In post-911 America, isn’t freedom still an American value?

Let's Celebrate National E-Prime Week!

I hereby declare the fourth week in November... NATIONAL E-PRIME WEEK!

HIP-HIP...!!...I said...HIP-HIP...hoo-ray.....

Okay, so maybe I'm alone in this endeavor, but I think that the fourth week in November is the perfect time to do a little annual semantic experiment. Hear me out! You may actually agree with this. But first, I know you may wonder: “What the FUCK is E-Prime?”

Alfred Korzybski. One cool cat.

E-Prime emerged from the study of General Semantics in the early 1960s. Alfred Korzybski, the “Father of General Semantics” found that the word “is,” and all of the other derivatives of “to be,” suffer from structural problems and lack validity. For instance, the statement “this song is horrible” can be completely subjective. Even the statement “The sky is blue” may not necessarily be accurate.

David Bourland, a student of Korzybski, suggested that a more accurate method of communication might completely eliminate be, am, is, are, was, were, been and being. Bourland pointed out that by using this method, which he called “E-Prime” or “English Prime,” language can become less dogmatic. “This song is terrible” becomes “I don't like this song” and “the sky is blue” becomes “the sky looks blue to me,” therefore, inviting discussion rather than conflict.

So, why do I think that we need to celebrate this obscure academic exercise each year during the fourth week of November? THANKSGIVING, yo! Because, this week, due to some societally enforced ritual, many of us find ourselves occupying the same space for an extended period of time with other spawn of our hereditary genetic pool, some of whom may have very different outlooks on life than we do. Let's face it, “IS” can be a semantic chip on our shoulder, one that invites alcohol-addled ancestors, cro-magnon cousins and other kooky kin to knock it off. What better time to practice a little non-confrontational thought experiment?
 

Propagating Forest Medicinals

A few snapshots of some wild yam and black cohosh I dug this week- my medicinal forest garden also includes American Ginseng, Comfrey, Blue Cohosh, Goldenseal and Bloodroot. For more on forest botanicals and their uses check out the Peterson Field Guide