Polls. They seem to matter to people. They certainly get their fair share of attention in the media and politicians salivate over them like a TV executive looking at ratings.
Leading experts in the water industry claim that water is the next oil. In next couple decades, we will see rampant population growth running headlong into waning water supply. The UN claims that 31 countries are now facing water scarcity issues while 1 billion lack access to clean drinking water. It’s not that the water [...]
The concept of profit in a capitalist society is essentially devoid of ethical considerations. There is one goal: increase net profit. Profit sucks out the soul of humanity: any help needed comes with a price tag; all price tags come with an included and invisible mark up (pure-hearted charity excluded).
Welcome to the first AVJ Writers’ Debate! We’ll post an assertion to be argued for or against, and ask all of our writers to come to the table for a good honest debate. Comments are now open to all readers. ASSERTION: The government should help to ensure that no business profits excessively off the sick, disabled, or poor.
In the public eye, divorce has become a speed bump. It’s a tedious process that is more of a hassle than an emotional ordeal. Time used to be that divorces were a rarity, deemed a sort of failure on both persons’ parts; now it is an ugly sometimes-necessity for people who know better than to try to work it out. What this teaches children, and subconsciously ingrains into the minds of young adults everywhere, is that there is an easy alternative to the strife of marriage: get out.
Just a quick note on something special that’s happening these next few months on the Avocado Jungle. We have the pleasure and honor of having a very talented photographer as our first ever Artist In Residence. Angela Richelle is a photographer, working professional and mother living in Southern California. We’ll have more soon, perhaps even an interview of a decent length. For now I’d like to encourage everyone to see her first work as our Artist In Residence, a chills-inducing shot of her own divorce papers–and a very candid and moving bit of writing to go with it. The photo is entitled, “Dissolution of Marriage.”
I have to say, I hate that “we are in the middle of war-time” for a couple reasons. First of all, I’m not the biggest fan of war or of military forces. Secondly, I think ex-President Bush’s proclaimed reasons for starting the war were not well thought through and have only been exacerbated over the years by his haughty, self-serving, frat boy attitude. Thirdly, “war-time” has become this relatively removed experience for all but the growing number of people with loved ones returning severely injured or not at all.
I’m of the mind that one should never do something creative entirely alone. You should definitely have a trusted pack of buddies by your side while crafting some tunes.
I recently had the pleasure of an interview with our new music blogger, Dan Rickabus. This young man from Michigan has a happy perspective on life, a strong yet smokey rock’n'roll voice and a weird way of making ukelele work in his catchy alt-rock songs. Podcast only.
Acrylic on wood from painter Joe Vaux, entitled “Flood.”
Stay tuned for more performances, more interviews, and more episodes of and Boris! Also coming soon… iTunes podcasts of all our features, from blogs to webcasts to music and more.
In the coming months we’ll be building a team of people to present the events of the world in a way we think is different from how most people are doing it. We hope to:
Prioritize stories that are deeply significant and not just sensational;
Focus on root causes and possible solutions, not just symptoms and a chronology of events;
Provide a rich context of history and culture to help place events into the bigger picture.
Connect these stories to America, and to individuals living in America.
Emphasize the actions that are being taken, and when appropriate, the actions you can take to improve your life and the world around you.
We’re setting our sights high and hope you’ll like it.
This week in the Jungle
we are searching for the truth about friendship. What are the challenges of maintaining friendships, be it in context of the modern age, family needs, sacrifice, reciprocity, forgiveness, or trust? What does friendship mean right now? Last week: profit. Next week: American muscle.
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