I wanted to keep bees on a suburban lot in South Carolina, but it was "illegal" under the regulations of the homeowners' association -- which had all actually been written by the developer and turned over to the 'association' as a de facto constitution. I was already involved in a fight with the same developer about his desire to build two houses on a area of isolated wetlands that were preserved as a 'conservation easement', precisely because of his initial development -- but they had been preserved by the Army Corps of Engineers (ironically) in their (often misguided or malicious) efforts to manage the nation's waterways and this federal power to protect 'isolated wetlands' in such a way had been promptly repealed by the Bush administration... leading to a sort of development boom in the South Carolina Lowcountry, since much of the previously protected wetlands were now governed only by state regulations (and most states had no such regulations since the activity had been in the domain of the Corps of Engineers).

Anyway, it seemed a more important fight; to save that small boggy & impenetrable patch of swamp magnolias, pines, gums, and even invasive species (Bradford Pears, and Tree of Heaven especially, but also lots of lawn grass and garden plants), since neighbors used one corner (which had been "accidentally" razed) as a dumping area for yard waste. And so I saved the little "less than an acre", from the developer who wanted to sell two more homes in a neighborhood where we already lived on lots the size of postage stamps. And also saved it from the crowd in the homeowners association meetings who wanted a "pool and/or clubhouse" on the forested land. I saved it, and so I still heard birds singing, and woodpeckers pecking. And, I had lots of bees, birds, butterflies, lizards, and snakes, and worms, and mice, and moles, etc. (because they still had a bit of the wild from whence to come) and I received plenty of fines and threats for my suburban permaculture experiment (one "neighbor" actually climbed on his roof to see what was in the jungle behind my fence, instead of merely asking and enjoying the tour that I loved to give to anyone who would let me), that was quite a spectacle... but as for the honey, someone else was reaping that reward. And I felt I didn't have the energy for the hives, much less the fight that would ensue once the hives were discovered. The thought of hives gave me hives, heh, pun fun. Yet the idea came to me again, when considering an 'urban ecovillage' in Buenos Aires, and the prospects for hives in urban areas. It seemed to me that the tree-lined streets and gardens full of flowers and citruses would provide a comfortable habitat, and the bees would be as integral and natural addition as they were in my suburban garden. However, when my own (usually entirely supportive) wife looked at me as if concerned for my mental health after I suggested the idea of intentionally bringing entire hives of bees into an urban apartment tower, I knew that it would likely be as difficult of a battle here as anywhere. (Especially considering that she's a "mental health" advocate, who has done a great deal of work to get people OUT of mental institutions.)

Yet, a small collective of underground apiculturists in New York City are teaming up and forming a powerful lobby that has already succeeded in introducing legislation to overturn the city's ban on bee-keeping. They're showing that the idea is not only viable, but that it enriches the local environment (and economy) in more ways than most people seemed to anticipate. It's hardly just for the honey. Click on through to read this very interesting article that has everything from direct action anarchist apiculture to ecopsychology...  (continued...)

Due to an attack of pernicious and prolific spambots -- who either just now found the site or else just now developed the means to overcome our defense mechanisms -- I have had to disallow unregistered users from being able to post comments without approval. I do want to apologize for any inconvenience this causes; I know I personally prefer being able to post to a site without registering AND without waiting for my comments to appear... And, as time permits, I will be actively working on a technical fix that will allow this degree of functionality to be returned to this site. (continued...)

In this excellent article by Greg Grandin, the history of U.S. involvement in decades of 'dirty wars', brutal dictatorships, and false democracies across Latin America is briefly explored in an effort to show that the current atrocities occurring in the global war against terrorism are really nothing new. They may have been refined a bit, to be more palatable for public consumption, but essentially nothing has changed. Just like the cold war and the drug war, the war on terrorism is nothing more than a contrived pretense for the wealthy elite classes of the world to wage unrestrained warfare against self-willed people and planet which stand in the way of their amoral quest for profit.  (continued...)

They use so many dirty tricks against us. Age-old dirty tricks too, like 'image magick'. Using symbolic abstractions to mesmerize us... to mystify us. The environmental NGOs who sell their 'brand' for the purpose of corporate greenwashing.are certainly deeply involved in such dark magic... attempting to distract us with their mindfucking trickery while our mother is raped and our children are robbed. (continued...)

When wealthy technophilic urbanites begin to catch-on to the notion of a 'retrolithic revolution', what will the inevitable niche markets & subcultures of late capitalism look like? I'm sure we can all imagine multiple possibilities, and yet, as often happens, the truth will probably be stranger than fiction... as is the case with this mindblowing report about a techno-primitivist-capitalist "tribe" that is supposedly already well organized and established in the northeastern United States. I'm still holding out some hope though that this article is actually fiction, but it's very subtle satire if that's the case. And it's likely that life would be imitating art soon enough, in any case. This is definitely a must-read... not only is it the first fresh content this site has had in quite a while, it's also the most unusual and also the most directly relevant piece that has EVER been posted here. So, enough hype... I'll let you get to it...   (continued...)