Our Allergies, Ourselves
By Drake Bennett, Boston Globe
Throughout the years, different explanations for the causes of allergies have been quite off the mark, even comical. Yet, they all seemed to home in on one thing: Allergies are probably a 'disease of civilization.' From a condition reserved for the affluent to a malady that targets the poor, allergies have occupied as much of a social as a medical position in popular discussion. And though medical clarity may one day put to rest sociological mysteries surrounding allergies, until then the questions and their answers will remain 'an epidemiological Rorschach.' -- Nick Rose
http://tinyurl.com/qqnjs

Foraging for a Healthier Planet
By 'Wildman' Steve Brill, Common Ground
When urban forager 'Wildman' Steve Brill came up against the New York parks department, he didn't just beat them, he joined them. Brill led paid tours of city parks where he instructed people on the finer points of urban foraging -- gathering food from the urban environment. The parks department pressed charges, but an ensuing media storm caused the agency to drop them and instead hire Brill to lead the very tours that got him arrested in the first place. -- Nick Rose
http://www.commongroundmag.com/2006/05/foraging0605.html

Poison!: An Ill Wind Remembered
By Gary Wockner, Orion
Ecologist Gary Wockner fondly remembers his youth helping his dad crop-dust fields. Wockner would stand in the fields waving flags to show his dad where to dust and then bolt as the plane approached. 'Don't let the spray get on you,' his father would warn. 'It's poison!' In this short memoir, Wockner reveals that his father didn't die of the poison that sent his children to college; it was the cigarettes he smoked all his life that killed him. -- Nick Rose
http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/06-3om/Wockner.html

Electrical Walks: Samples of Raw Sounds
By Christina Kubisch, Cabinet Magazine Online
If you've ever wondered what the ambient electromagnetic pulses buzzing imperceptibly around you sound like, your wait is over. Berlin artist Christina Kubisch built headsets that convert electromagnetic signals -- from ATMs, subway systems, whatever has a strong signal -- into sound. She has gone on these 'walks' in cities around the world, and she even loans out pairs of headsets to those who are interested. Click on the links to hear the walks yourself. -- Nick Rose
http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/21/kubisch.php