Buzz Words: The search for truth

via bilerico.com

Whenever an issue just up-n-disappears from the local news, I get the feeling we should start digging. For instance, I've not heard a lick of news about unemployment in weeks. I'm assuming this means the recession is over and everyone has jobs now. In my opinion, when "they" stop talking about something abruptly that means it's really time to start digging. It can be easy to fall victim to out-of-sight-out-of-mind when the coverage on these stories in reduced on your local news and give into distraction (OMG, the latest spring hair trends!).

This computer is clean....

Hey everybody,

I fully intended to have more posts for your viewing pleasure this week, but Tuesday morning I discovered a virus on my computer!! After a very hard fought battle, I'm all clean and ready to play with others again this am. Thanks for your patience:).

-Nerd-N-Ernie

Gaddafi's son in America right up until Libya uprising

Yeah, that's right...on a state sponsored internship. He was given VIP tours of the Universal Studio's theme park, Google, Apple and Intel, as well as defense contractors Lockheed Martin, Northrop Gruuman. He returned home, where he is a military commander, when the uprising started. The state denies they planned or organized the trip, despite his warm reception. Full article here.

"Leaves are buzzing with electricity..."

What a wonderful example of what's possible when we partner technology and nature! In 1998, researchers at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed an artificial, silicone-based leaf able to collect energy from the sun. However, this was a costly prototype, being composed of rare and expensive materials, and it had a short life span. So Daniel Nocera of the Massachusetts  Institute of Technology went back to the drawing board.

Organic, All Natural, Locally Grown: What does it all really mean?

Many of you are like me, ready and willing to start doing your part by making sustainability a habit, but still in an environment that doesn't lend it's self well to backyard chicken coops and gardens. And while we still must rely on the grocery stores to feed ourselves, we want to make better choices with our money and for our health. So do we buy certified organic? All natural? Only food grown locally? And how does each option effect the environment and our health?

Planting A Herb Garden

I am the younger sister of Mrs. Nerd-N-Ernie. I am a wife, a mother of one, and one damn clean-smelling hippie. I will be contributing to the “When All Else Fails” section, adding the perspective of one who is in the process of converting a piece of land into a Mecca of self-sufficientness. I’ll keep you posted on our progress, and I will do my best to present fun ideas for your own projects! It is my goal to help prepare you for the worst. Check back frequently for gardening tips, cost summaries, and ways to help bring yourself back to the Earth.

Many people may think that growing your own food is too hard and time consuming. Food and herbs can be grown easily and, more importantly, it is crazy healthy! Hopefully the tips you find here will help you to see this is not the case. My favorite part about growing my own food is the satisfaction I get knowing that I am playing a key part in my family’s health and well-being. Investing just a little time and an even smaller amount of money can be the greatest thing you do for your family.

Step One: Planting a Herb Garden

Welcome Yaya! Nerd-N-Ernie's newest member and resident Sustainability Columnist (fancy, yes?)

Out like a lion, indeed!

Welcome back from the weekend! The first order of business, this snowy Colorado morning, is to introduce and welcome a new contributor to Nerd-N-Ernie.

In accordance with the blog's new direction, I've added a new section entitled When All Else Fails that will hopefully help you bring more and more bits of sustainability into your life. As I currently live in the middle of a city & in a basement apartment, I felt it necessary to bring in a writer with a different perspective than I to fill in any gaps.

My little seester fits the bill perfectly as someone who is currently working to turn my parents 40 acre piece of land into a fully working and sustainable farm. She starts today, posting under Yaya, so start looking for tips on starting herb and vegetable gardens, chicken raising, raising a baby in a sustainable environment and whatever else she comes up with! I will also add tips geared more for the apartment dwelling readers as well, but Yaya's info should transfer well to both kinds of living.

I'm very excited to welcome her on board and I hope you all will enjoy hearing from her as well!

As always, thanks for checking us out!

-Nerd-N-Ernie