On May 14, the National Transportation Safety Board voted to recommend that states lower their laws determining maximum permitted blood-alcohol content levels. According to NBC News:

Most countries in Europe, including Russia, most of South America and Australia, have set BAC levels at .05 to constitute drunken driving. When Australia dropped its BAC level from .08 to .05, provinces reported a 5-18 percent drop in traffic fatalities… At .05 BAC, the risk of having an accident increases by 39 percent. At .08 BAC, the risk of having an accident increases by more than 100 percent. [source]

The most significant, useful, and relevant development in recent years has been the ability to specifically deliver advertising only to groups that are likely to be interested in the product or service being advertised. This benefits advertisers and consumers, and most people would agree it’s a good thing.

However, if gone unchecked, advertising methods can take on a somewhat creepy form. The latest book by Douglas Van Praet is Unconscious Branding: How Neuroscience Can Empower (and Inspire) Marketing. This book is an essential guide to all consumers to defend themselves against the next wave of corporate mind control. Although Van Praet is actually promoting and defending the idea of unconscious branding, this book will empower consumers by giving them a thorough history of marketing and advertising, as well as a glimpse into the future of the advertising industry.

In his book, Van Praet explores the science of Unconscious Branding through neuroscience approaches to marketing. Neuroscience customization and optimization of marketing is to advertising what GMO is to food production — an imperceptible hidden accelerator and controlling agent. It’s like the MSG of advertising.

Traditional advertising provides consumers with information about a product, its benefits and value. However, let’s say you are trying to sell a product that consumers don’t need or want, or perhaps it’s overpriced. In their conscious mind, consumers will make rational, logical, and self-preserving decisions based on facts and marketplace factors. However, if one manipulates the minds of consumers using neuroscience approaches to marketing, they become more malleable.

Van Praet explains:

“Unfortunately, businesses have long based their marketplace knowledge on culture and economics and not on the truths of biology and brain evolution. They have borrowed heavily from the social sciences while virtually ignoring the natural sciences, leaving so much fertile ground with woefully few farmers. This new shift from a cultural to a biological view of behavior is one of the most exciting and promising opportunities in the history of humanity. … It’s time to reveal the hidden depths below our behaviors and to see how our most basic instincts, emotions, innate predispositions, and unconscious learned behaviors can be used to better connect brands with humanity.” - From the Introduction

“The central thesis [of Vance Packard's highly influential book The Hidden Persuaders] was that we were being monitored and manipulated by marketers and advertisers without our conscious awareness. A year later, a government investigation by the CIA led to a ban on these … in the United States. The reports concluded that: ‘Certain individuals can at certain times and under certain circumstances be influenced to act abnormally without awareness of the influence.’”- From Chapter 1, the Myth of Marketing.

__________

Disclosure. To be fair, it’s important to share this disclaimer offered by Van Praet in the introduction to his book, “If you are interested in manipulating minds, please don’t bother reading this book.”

Below. An introduction to “Get Back,” a film written and directed by Eliot Rausch. When the Lincoln Motor Company asked Eliot to create a film that would interpret the notion of “Hello, Again” he decided to pull from his own experience and explore the topic of digital distraction. Making the film – and reimagining his own life – was the opportunity he needed to break away from the devices that were stealing attention to the present. His film “Get Back” showcases the story of a young couple trying to work out life and love in the midst of an increasingly disconnected digital world.

Below. A short film written and directed by Eliot Rausch, presented by the Lincoln Motor Company as part of the “Hello, Again” series, which asks filmmakers to reimagine the familiar into something fresh and new. Rausch found himself increasingly distracted by his phone, his email, and his need to be in touch, and realized that he was losing sense of what he was actually connected to. He made this film to explore the way humans connect in an era when they are more “connected” than ever.

Below. Eliot Rausch wanted to put down his phone and reconnect with his life, but the idea was more complicated than he’d imagined. This behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Get Back,” a film written and directed by Rausch, further investigates the way human relationships are shaped by the devices that connect us — and keep us from connecting. The film is presented by the Lincoln Motor Company as part of the “Hello, Again” series, which asks filmmakers to reimagine the familiar into something fresh and new.

Summary. Community Energy Scotland is one of many groups advancing sustainable energy initiatives in Scotland. From their website:

We believe that communities can become stronger, more self reliant and resilient by generating their own energy and using it efficiently. We provide education, finance and practical help. We are a voice for communities who want to act now for a more secure and sustainable energy future in Scotland.

Learn More. More information about renewable energy initiatives in Scotland can be found on Wikipedia. [source]

The production of renewable energy in Scotland is an issue that has come to the fore in technical, economic, and political terms during the opening years of the 21st century. The natural resource base for renewable energy is extraordinary by European, and even global standards, with the most important potential sources being wind, wave, and tide.

At the end of 2011, there was 4,796 megawatts (MW) of installed renewables electricity capacity in Scotland, an increase of 9.5 per cent (416 MW) on the end of 2010. Renewable electricity generation in 2011 was a record high at 13,750 GWh – an increase of 44.5 per cent on 2010. Around 35 per cent of Scotland’s electricity came from renewables in 2011, exceeding the Scottish Government’s target of 31 per cent. Scotland contributed almost 40 per cent of the UK’s renewables output in 2011.

 Additional Reading. Below are links to articles and resources for more information.

• “Scotland powering forward in uncertain times,” Energy Saving Trust, 22 April 2013, by Gary Hartley.
  
• “Scotland’s renewable energy at all-time high,” The Scottsman, 2 May 2013, by Scott Macnab.

Video. Below is a video about home-based renewable energy produced by the Energy Saving Trust.

Dear Friend,

I know that time is precious for everyone, so I’ll try to keep this update short. The approximate reading time is about 3 minutes.

Video Interview. This past month I was able to interview Cheryl Martin and discuss her presentation on small house living and tiny house communities. Click here to view the video. Let me know if there are others in the Small House Movement you’d like to see interviewed.

Local Chapters. With support requests pouring in from all over the world, this year we hope to establish local chapter offices for the Small House Society in various countries, regions, states, and cities. Please let me know if you’re interested in being a local representative and contact.

Global Reach. During a typical week, we have thousands of visitors from over 120 countries visiting our website. The map below is just a snapshot of just a few hours. So, the need for additional helpers is great. We have over 8000 people that we communicate each month through email, phone, or these updates.

Thanks. I want to thank the global team of volunteers and contributors “behind the scenes” who help make all this possible. I’m very grateful to the many people who continue to uphold and advance the mission of the Small House Society. Thanks again for your support. Please let me know if there is any way that the Small House Society can serve you better.

Regards,
Gregory Johnson, Facilitator, President, Co-Founder
Small House Society

Internet: http://www.smallhousesociety.org
E-Mail: shs @ resourcesforlife.com (without spaces)
Postal: c/o Resources for Life, PO Box 2717, Iowa City, IA 52244-2717
Phone: (319) 621-4911
Subscribe. Enter your email address below and click the Join Now button to be notified when the latest Small House Society newsletter is available.

Dear Friend,

I know that time is precious for everyone these days, so I’ll try to keep this update short. The approximate reading time is about 3 minutes. Feel free to reduce your reading time even more by skipping over topics that don’t interest you.

Personal Update. My Personal Update for April is now available. It’s in a different format from previous months. If we’re not already connected on Facebook, I invite you to visit my page and send me a friend request.

New Articles. The Documents Page has a list of the latest updates to the site including some important announcements. If you skim the titles you should be able to find the items of interest relevant to you.

Heart Songs. The Heart Songs selections for this month are: Good Life by OneRepublic from the album Waking Up (Deluxe Version) and Everytime by Britney Spears from the album In the Zone.

Justice System Reform. Last year, I setup a page on Facebook called Justice Equity that aggregates top news stories from the incarceration reform movement. This month I launched JusticeEquity.com as a sister website with an emphasis on cooperation and collaboration among all the stakeholders of justice system reform. A Justice Center proposed for Johnson County (up for vote on May 7) has resulted in many good ideas being proposed for improving our local justice system and reducing incarceration rates. So, I’ve been communicating with Justice Center opponents and advocates alike to assemble some of these ideas on the Justice Equity website. Although this is a very tense local issue, and people have strong feelings on both sides, I’ve been able to work with people on both sides of the issue and collaborate on a long-term plan for improving our local justice system and reducing incarceration rates. I’ve written two articles you may find interesting. One article is on the topic of transcendent activism applied to reducing racial disparity of arrest and incarceration rates. The other article is about prison abolition and prison reform as they relate to the Justice Center concept.

Small Living. I continue to be supportive of the small and simple living movement. This past month I was able to interview Cheryl Martin and discuss her presentation on small house living and tiny house communities. Click here to view the video.

Thanks. I want to thank the global team of volunteers, contributors, and workers “behind the scenes” who help make all this possible. I’m very grateful to the many people who continue to uphold and advance the mission of Resources for Life. Thanks again for your support. Please let me know if there is any way that Resources for Life can serve you better.

Regards,
Greg

Greg Johnson, Director
ResourcesForLife.com
“Resources for Better Living”
Internet: http://www.resourcesforlife.com/g
E-Mail: g @ resourcesforlife.com (without spaces)
Postal: PO Box 2717, Iowa City, IA 52244-2717 USA
Phone: (319) 621-4911
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gregorypauljohnson
Twitter: http://twitter.com/resources4life
Monthly Newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/resourcesforlifenews/

Subscribe. Enter your email address below and click the Join Now button to be notified when the latest ResourcesForLife.com newsletter is available.

Copyright & License Notification. Until a better system is found or developed, this content and information on the Resources for Life website will be governed by the spirit and intent of the Creative Commons ‘BYSA 3.0′ license. This license provides for the rapid dissemination and adoption of information and concepts without restricting flow and by guaranteeing unrestricted flow down stream even after third-party enhancements or revisions are made. This license is described in more detail here:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Open Source. The writings, systems, content, media (video/audio), and inventions developed under the Resources for Life name are to be governed by the spirit and intent of the Open Source license agreement described here:
http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php

Transparency and Collaboration. To the greatest extent possible, every effort is made to maintain transparency in our operation. This allows for more effective public engagement, involvement, and collaboration.

Dear Friend,

Here’s my personal update for April 2013.

New Format. Starting in February this year, I changed the format of these updates to be more like a personal note. My previous monthly updates were organized according to the ResourcesForLife.com life map. I’m using that format now as a Personal Life Map status report page that I can update as needed.

Justice System Reform. Last year, I setup a page on Facebook called Justice Equity that aggregates top news stories from the incarceration reform movement. This month I launched JusticeEquity.com as a sister website with an emphasis on cooperation and collaboration among all the stakeholders of justice system reform. A Justice Center proposed for Johnson County (up for vote on May 7) has resulted in many good ideas being proposed for improving our local justice system and reducing incarceration rates. So, I’ve been communicating with Justice Center opponents and advocates alike to assemble some of these ideas on the Justice Equity website. Although this is a very tense local issue, and people have strong feelings on both sides, I’ve been able to work with people on both sides of the issue and collaborate on a long-term plan for improving our local justice system and reducing incarceration rates. I’ve written two articles you may find interesting. One article is on the topic of transcendent activism applied to reducing racial disparity of arrest and incarceration rates. The other article is about prison abolition and prison reform as they relate to the Justice Center concept.

Small Living. I continue to be supportive of the small and simple living movement. This past month I was able to interview Cheryl Martin and discuss her presentation on small house living and tiny house communities. Click here to view the video.

Health & Fitness. I’ve started exercising two times a day with an increased workout in the morning (30 minutes on the treadmill while lifting free weights). In the evenings, I’m going for walks (weather permitting). This bump in my exercise routine has accelerated my weight loss, which is encouraging. For the month of May, beginning tomorrow, I plan to start riding my bicycle as well.

Other News. As is usual, I continue to be busy with technology consulting, website design, and my work at the University of Iowa. As you’ll see from the recent documents posted, I’ve also been busy writing.

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

~ Gregory

[by Gregory Johnson]

Anyone who has spoken with me over the past 30 years about the state of our justice system as it relates to incarceration, jails, prisons, and correctional institutions would accurately categorize me as a Prison Abolitionist or perhaps a Prison Reform Advocate.

Over the years, not much has changed with the state of incarceration nor my opinion about it. Last year I launched a Facebook page that now has a sister website called JusticeEquity.com where I promote ideas for reducing crime and incarceration.

When I was younger, I remember seeing a retirement community outside the Washington, D.C area and thinking, “Why don’t they make little communities like that instead of prisons. They could be sustainable, livable and enjoyable, but with a wall around to stop ‘bad‘ people from getting out.” I imagined business or industry in such a village that would make it financially profitable. That initial, somewhat naive, impression has developed, but remains much the same as my early thoughts on incarceration. It seems to me that a correctional facility should be an immersion experience where people are surrounded by what we know to bring about positive and healthy thoughts and behaviors. There should be art, music, food, clothing, pets, flowers, and anything else known to produce positive outcomes. Instead, what we have are cold institutions that might be condemned if they were used as animal shelters, but remain open because humans live there. In some ways, the prison industrial complex seems to be specifically designed to produce recidivism and make criminals worse – a theme explored in the University of Wisconsin Law Review article, “Is Prison Increasing Crime?” Since the time when I first envisioned a better ‘prison’ system, incarceration rates have gone up in the U.S. by about 400%, and there are a disproportionate number of minorities incarcerated. Something isn’t working with the current system.

I provide the above, for anyone wanting my general views on jails, prisons, and incarceration.

Last year, the incarceration crisis in the United States made it onto our radar in Iowa City when local county residents were asked to vote on a proposed Justice Center.

This ignited a broader conversation about incarceration reform, the War on Drugs, and justice system reform. I saw this as an opportunity to raise the volume on this very important public conversation. In September 2012, I joined with others nation-wide in promoting the film The House I Live In as well as telling people about the Jon Stewart interview with the producer Eugene Jarecki. In addition to promoting that film, I promoted a local showing of Broken on All Sides. I also helped raise awareness about a PBS documentary on the incarceration crisis.

Since I was first introduced to the idea of having a local Justice Center in our area, I’ve been in favor of it and have wanted to support it in any way I can.

Let me explain.

The only thing I hate more than jails is bad jails. Old jails with failing equipment. Double-bunked over-crowded retrofitted jails designed for 46 people but housing up to 92 inmates. Over-capacity jails that require shipping people away from family and services that might have reduce recidivism. That’s what we have right now in Johnson County. It’s everything I don’t like about jails (previously described) made even worse.

To the extent that the Justice Center is about jail expansion, we’ll end up with a better jail and an equal number of people incarcerated as we currently have — only, they will be incarcerated locally and the conditions of incarceration will improve.

However, over 60% of the cost for the Justice Center is for expanded courtrooms and other facilities that have the potential for offering better services to inmates, as well as better conditions for employees and area residents. I believe the conditions and opportunities of the proposed Justice Center may help reduce recidivism rather than likely increasing it given our current situation.

Unlike some anti-incarceration folks, I don’t feel animosity toward law enforcement, correctional officers, judges, lawyers or anyone else serving in the justice system. Indeed, we have very competent people serving these roles in our county. I feel that partnerships with those involved in the justice system will produce better outcomes than the results produced by protests.

Some people see the May 7 vote as a choice between YES and NO. For me, it’s simply a choice between YES and YES. Yes, to building an adequate facility, and YES to addressing the incarceration crisis and racial disparity that has plagued our entire nation for decades.

Despite my views about incarceration, I believe we need to give credit where credit is due. The people in Johnson County involved in the justice system and related services are exceptional. The list of volunteers and other workers includes people from substance abuse recovery organizations like MECCA as well as students and faculty from the Legal Clinic at the University of Iowa College of Law.

We’re doing something right in Johnson County, and as someone wanting to reduce incarceration, I’d really like to reverse engineer our local justice system to find out what it is.

We have a jail originally sized for 46 inmates that would be adequate for a community of similar size in Iceland, but it would be too small and inadequate for communities of our size in 197 other countries. [source] Even with some expansion, in Johnson County we’re still ahead of over 100 countries in regard to incarceration rates.

If we could reproduce what is being done in Johnson County across the rest of the country and have incarceration rates equal to those of Johnson County, we’d drop from the worst country in the world, to about 98th place, and no longer be the country with the highest incarceration rate.

I’d like to see us keep our lead in Johnson County. I’d like to see us do even better. Part of achieving that success will be found in providing the needed infrastructure to meet our current demand.

________

Document Reach. This document has not been promoted widely, and therefore readership is limited to those who discover it by searching Google. The map below provides approximate reader locations as of 2 May 2013. Click here or the map below to enlarge.

The description on Buick’s YouTube channel reads: “The age of the over-sized luxury car is about to give way to a smarter, more nimble breed. Introducing the all-new Buick Encore in its first TV commercial. Clearly, the next big thing in luxury is small. Discover the Encore.”

The small house movement has been at the forefront of advancing the smaller is better message. Below is a photo of Jay Shafer of Four Lights Houses tiny house company.

From: Tricia Knox
To: Iowa City and Eastern Iowa Artists and Artisans

* * *

Greetings friends!

I am happy to announce that we are rolling out our Iowa City Art/Maker Center called The Artifactory at the Cedar Rapids Science Center in the lower level of Lindale Mall, this Saturday, April 27th from 10-4. Featuring Eric Wortman’s Marvelous Marble Machines, Collage by Kay Irelan and Steampunk metal work by Patricia Knox.

Friend us on Facebook at Iowa City Artifactory and watch for announcements. Our website at www.theartifactory.org will be active soon.

The Artifactory aims to connect artists and makers of all kinds through classes and events where people who call themselves ceramicists, parents, sculptors, scientists, metalsmiths, jewelers, aviators, dentists, painters, engineers, wood workers, glass artists, kids, medical workers, otherly abled, technicians of all kinds, builders, teens, house husbands, nurses, barbers, cleaner-uppers, astronots, couch potatoes, you name it, can share themselves and their ideas.

We invite you to invigorate your work, meet new people, and play with friends in a sharing, fun, experimental atmosphere where not knowing and allowing failure can advance you beyond your expectations.

Our vision is that through association with The Artifactory, many may find what they love to do for fun, or for a career through classes and events. We aim to connect artists and makers of all types, reinforcing the strong relationship between art, science and technology.

Tricia Knox