From CBC’s Ideas radio show, I am listening to the podcast with Nick Maxwell on the ideas about science presented in his book From Knowledge to Wisdom: A Revolution for Science and the Humanities.

A long but highly insightful conversation between acclaimed authors Salman Rushdie and Irshad Manji on the nature of belief, Islamism, the history of Islam and Quran, and what to do in a world full of crazies on both the Islamist side and the racist westerner side. Rational, thinking people of all varieties will enjoy this video… please watch in full, it’s worth it. Intelligent comments are welcome.

An insightful piece about the “Third Wave” of feminists who are now redefining the meaning of the word “Feminism” as a broader, more comprehensive movement than perhaps it’s been in the past.

The word of the day is intersectionality — the understanding of multiple ways of being and living that shape a person and how we experience the world, and in turn how the world treats them. The idea that one individual can be faced with a multitude of oppressions which can’t be addressed individually any more than the person herself can be physically divided into pieces and be expected to survive.

So many things to occupy time, so little time for them to occupy.

Here’s an interesting interview I came across with author Salman Rushdie

For the other geeks among us, you might find PC World’s list of the Top 50 Tech Visionaries inspiring.

Here, you can listen to an audio version of a Q&A between Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell and Ann Hathaway (listen to the audio online by clicking on the link in the middle there).

Lastly, but definitely not leastly, here’s a tribute to the funniest guy who ever lived who died this past weekend, George Carlin. The world was funnier with ya, George, we’ll miss your sick, twisted, brilliant brain. Here he is, in his own words…

Battlestar Galactica‘s Tricia Helfer’s
‘Angel for Animals’ PETA PSA

Click on the poster to read more about Tricia and to enter a contest to win Battlestar Galactica DVD’s!

“Since we began negotiations in July, we’ve been saying, ‘If they get paid, we get paid.’ This contract makes that a reality. It’s the best deal this Guild has bargained for in 30 years after the most successful strike this Guild has waged in 35 years. It was arguably the most successful strike in the American labor movement in a decade, clearly the most important of this young century. It is not all that we hoped for, and not all that we deserved. But as I told our members, this strike was about the future, and this deal assures for us and for future generations of writers a share in the future…”

This is from Nikki Finke’s blog that has been a constant source of strike news and updates.

The show-runners (writers/producers) return to work on Monday, the show writers are to return on Wednesday after a membership vote on the terms of the deal. This is great! This means The Office, and Dexter and Battlestar Galactica and everyone else will be back in action soon! Yay!

Here’s an awesome parody of the “Leave Britney Alone!” video. hehehe….

Eat less meat

Not only are meat and dairy production & processing immensely energy-inefficient and polluting, the animals we eat are saturated with hormones and genetic modifications.

My partner and I decided on my last birthday (August 2007) to go veggie . It’s been at times inconvenient and at times very easy to keep it up, especially because we chose to not go too militant about it and so we keep our minds open for when practicality must win out over our ideals (like when we’re stuck somewhere and the only non-meat option out there is pizza with no meat but with cheese), it’s still very satisfying. We are both more energetic, we feel calmer inside in general and we are saving loads of money. And the food options are enormous! We both love Indian food which has countless vegetarian options, and we have discovered and rediscovered so many delicious foods from spicy and filling falafel to Licks’ juicy veggie burgers, rich vegan brownies, hot and soothing soups, exotic vegetarian pasta and so much more. The one thing I still love is eggs, and so we choose to buy only Free-Run (cruelty free), organic eggs raised on local farms .

We also try and buy products which are not tested on animals, products from relatively enlightened companies like Revlon, The Body Shop, Jamieson, Estee Lauder, M.A.C. cosmetics, Whole Foods Markets, Victoria’s Secrets and many more.  And we try to avoid buying products from companies that still perform unnecessary and cruel animal testing, like Clairol, Arm & Hammer, Cover Girl, Johnson & Johnson, Pantene, Pfizer, L’Oreal, Suave, Sally Hansen and others like them.

For most of my life I thought I didn’t have it in me to give up eating meat. But it’s been easier than I had imagined. Yes there are some changes we’ve had to make, but it’s been a lot less of a hassle than I had thought. Now, the thought of eating meat the way I used to is actually repulsive to me. Knowing the kinds of cruelties that factory farms put their animals through, and how,, at the grocer’s the meat is packed with artificial hormones, has made me cringe at the thought of consuming such poisoned flesh .

Something to think about… the powerful meat and dairy industries put a LOT of money in trying to convince you otherwise, but the truth is cutting back on meat and dairy is good for both your body’s and your planet’s health.

If you’re reading this, I dare you to check out the sites linked here and others, and try to become more veggie-focused and be the cause/consumer of lesser and lesser cruelty on other sentient beings in the world. Just try it for 1 month… I dare ya!

Related links:
Veg.ca
Vegetarian Resource Group
Caring Consumers
How to Avoid Genetically Modified (GM) Foods
Why is American Beef banned in Europe?

A couple of excellent articles from Business Week: 1 about how ads push your buttons, and another about how ads are changing in the face of the new media evolving in front of us:

This Is Your Brain On Ads

Advertising: Now a Conversation

from kcd – A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language – By Randall Munroe