“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” –W.H.Auden

Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.

Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question “CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?”

Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround. (Excerpt from main website)

Andy Samberg with Adam Levine: Iran So Far Away … a love song to Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. The lyrics after the jump …

(Meanwhile, DC City Council voted 12-1 today to recognize other states’ same-sex marriages. Slow but sure steps towards equal civil rights. Right on!)

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A small digital camera is always a nice toy to have around. I shot this right outside the Shaw/Howard Metro stop in NW DC. After some editing and effects, and a soundtrack (flying lotus’ “tea leaf dancers”), I figured it looked interesting enough to share.  Make of it what you will, if you can make out anything at all.

Length: 35 seconds
Shot on: Kodak Zi6
Editor: Sony Vegas
Audio: Flying Lotus, “Tea Leaf Dancers” 

This morning, I rented a Zipcar (bright green logo) to go pick up my dry cleaning. My girl had dropped it off at a cleaner in Columbia Heights, not knowing that it was an “Organic Cleaner.” I’m not even sure what the hell that means. I do know that it cost me almost double what I would have spent elsewhere.  But that’s just me and finances.

The meat of what irks me is the current trend towards everything going “green,” whatever that may signify. It echoes hollow sentiments of a good cause gone awry into shameless marketing schemes. Everything from buses to web hosting companies are apprently signing up.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for each one of us doing our part to do as little damage to our surroundings as possible. But let’s face it: this is not about the environment. This is human beings’ selfish attempt at more self-preservative longevity. The planet and its ever evolving environment have been here for hundreds of thousands of years. Believe me, Mother Earth is not going anywhere. And neither is the environment. Nonetheless, let that not be incentive for reckless shenanigans and destructive behavior. I just think we have more pressing matters at hand than “going green,” i.e., war, poverty, preservation of equal rights and civil liberties, and an ever-impending nuclear holocaust.

Having said that, NBC recently refused to air this Super Bowl commercial from PETA:

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“Strange – ” I whispered, trying to smuggle some cold air up into my nostrils, past the ruffle of her unruly, lemongrass scented mess of an afro.

“What is?” She remained snuggled into my scrawny frame, sharing the fleece blanket to shield us from the biting winter breeze on the patio. Frankly, it was as effective as dressing a bullet wound with a band-aid.

“Your dandruff,” I replied, still reeling from the remnants of tetrahydrocannabinol shimmying along in my brain cells. “It actually tastes good.” Apparently, the only segue I had out of awkward silences was my penchant for even more awkward absurdities.

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