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Semi? He thought they said Demi

Two months ago, we mocked Ashton Kutcher for buying a behemoth, 10-mile-per-gallon (on a good day) International CXT, or commercial extreme truck.

Now, Kutcher's mocking himself. "My semi? It's the most idiotic thing I've ever purchased," he's quoted as saying in, ahem, In Touch Weekly. (I was flipping through it in line at the co-op, OK?)

ContactMusic.com reports that he may auction the beast off.

"It's a weird boy's dream," he said by way of explaining his stupidity. "Growing up in Iowa, all these kids in my school who had money would go out and buy these Toyota pickup trucks and put these huge wheels on them, and I would go, 'Oh man, I've got to have one of those.'

"So when I saw this truck in the newspaper, I knew I had to have it ... Then I got it, and I was like, 'Son of a bitch, I should have looked at it first.' I didn't realize it was that big."

For those of you not in Iowa or Tennessee

Last week, I posted my review of Sky Blue, a Korean anime film that touches upon some enviro issues. As I mentioned in my post, it is playing in limited release, with many showings already passed ... which means that many of you won't get to see it in theaters.

For those who are interested, and can't wait until it comes out on DVD, VHS or television, you can watch the first 8 minutes of Sky Blue on ifilm.com. (And all of you anime freaks out there, you can also watch clips of Steamboy.)

If you do watch the preview, which provides the backstory of the film, imagine that we humans continue to ignore the threat of climate change and that this is our future. Chilling.

Jeepers Creepers

Hordes of four-wheel-drive enthusiasts, and their respective four-wheel-driving monsters, have descended -- or rather off-roaded -- into the red rocks of Moab, Colo., for the 39th annual Jeep Safari.

The event began with a few Jeep drivers looking for a good time and has become an event complete with vendors, parades, and, of course, a whole lot of four-wheelin' fun. Some 20,000 to 30,000 off-roadies were in Moab this weekend, part of the week-long festivities that now overshadow mountain-biking and marathon-running weekends in terms of financial boons for the red rock area. No word yet on how the rocks feel about it.

An open letter to Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes

Dear Andy Rooney:

I enjoyed your commentary last night on 60 Minutes, titled "Put Brakes On Gas Prices". I applaud your campaign "to get every driver to use 20 percent less gas this year than last year."

You went on to point out how we Americans make unnecessary trips and exotic vacation plans that result in consumption of enormous amounts of gasoline. You even suggested that "newspapers print 'Don't Travel' sections with articles about how interesting it is not to go anywhere."

But you failed to mention hybrid cars! Here in Gristmill, readers are touting the benefits of driving a hybrid vehicle -- the primary one being less gas consumption.

Andy, Andy, why the omission?

Species essentialism

As one-time student of philosophy, I'm always happy to see it pop up in my non-academic life. So thanks to Jon Christensen for pointing to this short essay about species in Philosophy Today.

But I found it somewhat befuddling. The question on hand is, "what exactly is a species?" Geneticist Massimo Pigliucci says this:

Praying attention to herbicides

A group of ruralites near Eugene, Ore., have begun a five-week series of prayer circles in front of timber company offices.

Organizer Lynn Bowers said the group resorted to prayer circles after calls and letters to the timber companies got no response.

"No one willingly does harm," Bowers said, clasping hands in a circle of eight friends in front of Transition Management Inc.'s offices near Valley River Center in Eugene. "I pray that these timber guys' hearts are open so they understand the harm they are doing."

Although the timber companies say the herbicides are necessary to keep invasive species -- like scotch broom and blackberry -- from overgrowing, Bowers argues that the chemicals are too risky for forest and human health. She says their group will pick a different company to pray by each Friday until Earth Day, because "we need a miracle to change this situation." Amen?

Bog Bites Man

Everglades restoration stagnating after five years Restoration of the Florida Everglades is, well, a bit bogged down, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers internal memo. Written by Everglades project manager Gary Hardesty, the memo was addressed to Army Corps colleagues preparing to write a five-year update on the 30-year restoration plans. Hardesty noted […]

A first: Black man to head up NWF board

Jerome Ringo will officially take the helm of the National Wildlife Federation board this week, making him "the first-ever African-American to hold such a leadership position with any national conservation organization," according to the group.  

Congrats to Ringo and kudos to NWF, but damn, what does it say about the green movement that we're only just now marking this milestone? No wonder activists lament the lack of non-white faces in environmental circles.

Ringo told Lester Graham of the Great Lakes Radio Consortium that times are changing: "We're not where we want to be with respect to minority involvement in conservation, but I can guarantee you we're not where we were. Years ago when I got into the environmental movement, there were very, very few minorities involved."

As Graham explains it, Ringo "says he first got involved in environmental activism because he knew of chemical releases that were being emitted from a refinery, and some of those chemicals could cause health problems for the people who live nearby -- most of them low-income African-Americans."

Ringo in his own words again: "We have to readjust our priorities from just quality of life issues like where next month's rent is coming from, how do we feed our family. Environmental issues have to be within our top priorities because, as I tell the people in 'Cancer Alley,' Louisiana, what good is next month's rent if you're dying of cancer? So, we've got to be more involved in those quality of life issues and make environmental/conservation issues one of those key issues in our lives."

Energy and security bedfellows

The latest broadside on energy and security has been fired, with the bipartisan Energy Future Coalition organizing a March 24 letter to President Bush with 25 security heavy-weight signatories. The letter (PDF) details their demands for a combination of investment in efficiency and alternative energy development, all couched in national security terms.

Read earlier Grist coverage of the Energy Future Coalition here.

So Peaceful