the world's second largest aquarium

I read an article about the Great Barrier Reef the other day, and it said that in 20 years, this great ecosystem will have completely collapsed. I'm not too sure how they came about this number, or how they calculated the rapid depletion of the ecosystem, but if we're not careful this prediction can very well turn into fact one day. The Great Barrier Reef is home to almost 3,000 different reefs over 900 islands stretching 3,000 kilometers off the Coast of Queensland in Northeast Australia. It can be seen from outer-space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. It is truly a natural wonder. It's natural ecology is even more astonishing. Many species of animals including whales, dolphins, turtles, sharks, stingrays, crocodiles, seahorse, and over 215 different species of birds gracefully inhabit this natural phenomenon. It is also known to house over 2,200 species of plants, and more than 1,500 species of fish dwell in this delicate ecosystem.

However, man-made pollution along with climate change (whether its "Global Warming," or the increasing presence of carbon dioxide found in our atmosphere) is attributing to the ecosystem's collapse. Water quality has also been declining in the past few decades and will continue to do so. I'm not an ecologist, or an oceanographer, but one thing I remember from taking an introductory course in E8 (Environmental Analysis and Design) is that we are doing a great job at slowly destroying our planet. Whether it be the coal factories spurting up more dioxide in China, or American industrial complexes dumping toxic waste in our backyards, we are not taking care of the planet we are all inhabiting.

I don't have a solution to this grand problem, and frankly I wouldn't know where to begin. But corporations and $$$hungry mongrels have taken over the world, and aren't looking at giving up their reins. If we don't pay attention now we are going to pay dearly for it later. Even if we are long gone.

I have a dream.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed; "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves, and sons of former slave owners will sit together in a table of brother.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

28 August 1963, on the footsteps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

It's a lot easy to talk about certain issues in the heat of the moment, than actually doing something about it. Most people are afraid of what will happen to them when they speak up. Afraid that Big Brother is going to come a-knocking on your footsteps. Dr. MLK, Jr. knew that, it was only a matter of time. But just watch as he speaks to us. It's incredible watching him commandeer an entire nation of people to stand up in nonviolent protest. Why? Because it's our right. This country was founded on that principle of protest. Freedom from religious oppression, freedom to speak our minds without the government telling us what to believe in, freedom to do as we please within the limits of a civilized society, and freedom to share the love with the rest of the world. We should constantly be questioning the system, not to uproot it, or to destroy it, but to make it better for our prosperity. What will we leave behind? Better yet, what will you leave behind?

i love it

fred falke can you make an appearance in LA sometime soon?

Maybe at a local club or something?

Your beats just make me want to dance!

overconsumption

it's not a matter of business, or casualty.

it's about creating too much for ourselves.

and destroying the natural cycle of things.

live simply.

pics from chris jordan

peace

It's such a beautiful, profoundly unnatural phenomenon only found after times of horrific atrocities to humanity. Must it be so difficult for everyone to get along? Yet the vices of mankind have only perpetuated the every-increasing bloodshed and hatred found rampant around the world. We are living in a new age of digitalism, where our present technology allows us to send seemingly infinite amounts of information and knowledge through a click of a button. Though there are still parts of the world that have lagged behind, or they are attempting to hold off against "Westernizing." It then becomes the you're with us, or against us argument. Must there be a right or wrong? Who decides whose right and whose wrong? It seems as though while technology increases exponentially, humanity struggles to follow suit, and everyday stories of greed, and corruption have made us all disillusioned about the world... and each other. We have forgotten what life was like before the Web 2.0. We have difficulty crossing the street to say hello to our neighbors. We have forgotten the meaning of being human.

But all is not lost. As long as we all continue to help each other and start loving one another as individual beings we can all live in harmony. But until then, violence and wars will mandate our daily existence. Maybe one day we will all find value in our meaningful lives, lay down our arms, and make way for peace.

"We must pursue peaceful end through peaceful means." Dr. MLK Jr.