I feel the Earth move under my… tripod.

Ask not if your country is video-taping you; ask what you can video tape for your country!

Conspiracy theorists (or right-minded paranoiacs!?!) suspect the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security have been surveilling us for ages. Now the government is asking you to turn the cameras on yourself. Is this a budget-balancing measure akin to bagging your own groceries at the not-so-speedy DIY check-out line? Nope. It’s just the Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to celebrate Earth Day. Yup, the EPA — the same bureaucrats who have shifted positions on mining and coal more frequently than Lou Piniella adjusts his game-day line-ups — wants photographers and videographers to contribute pieces celebrating your efforts to save this shared planet of ours. (For full details, click here.) So, while it is still possible the submissions may be used against you — proof that you are illegally collecting rainwater! — they may also inspire others to do something about our global predicament than grouse about it. And, if you’re unhappy with your work, I suppose you could always just toss the film stock and dvds in the landfill. I’m sure they’re bio-degradable!