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Friday, December 30, 2011

World pays Ecuador not to extract oil from rainforest

An alliance of European local authorities, national governments, US film stars, Japanese shops, soft drink companies and Russian foundations have stepped in to prevent oil companies exploiting 900m barrels of crude oil from one of the world's most biologically rich tracts of land. 



This is BLOODY BRILLIANT! Read this article from The Guardian - a new step forwards.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Social Network for Protesters

Just wanted to put in this link: Replacement-Facebook for protesters...Social networking.



Click the photo or click here to read this article.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Ascent of Money

This is a documentary called The Ascent of Money, about how money came to be king.


(It is the first in a series - for some reason I couldn't get the playlist to load this time.)

How did our lives come to be ruled by money. Until very, very recently, most people didn't worry too much about it, and of course, once, it didn't exist.

Given that we now live in a monetary world, and for so long as we do, I believe we should use it wisely, hopefully towards the end of eliminating it so that we can all live for the right reasons. Because money is a poor motivation for doing anything, in my opinion. And yet, the fact is that we have to virtually mortgage our souls in order to make ends meet: so I think it is high time we bought our souls back and did things for better reasons.

The greatest motivations must be for the well-being of all (and not just humans) and for the giving from oneself, to making that personal connection. Working together is a far greater reward than controlling the masses and bending them to your will.

I am pro-charity but I get very annoyed by the hard sell that some street donation collectors try to use (I'm sure they're on commissions, nowadays). I think it a shame that it has come to this, charity muggers resorting to base tactics presumably because they can't get what they need.

And I am not anti-wealth or the wealthy, but do not presume to rule over me and everyone else, to control thoughts and manipulate beliefs and impoverish the people, to degrade the environment, take and never give. Value the heart as well as the brain, and the earth and heaven, do not tell me who heaven belongs to (as if you knew) and realise: we're all in the same boat, our spaceship Earth.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Slave labor


In a humourous but nonetheless serious vein, Stephen Fry on QI talking about the prison situation in the U.S.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Touched by Gorillas

I saw this on Facebook and want to post this here as a reason why we need to care for all life on earth.


It would be utterly amazing to have such an experience! I get excited by having a little skink on my hand, so this would have blown me away - and I think that it had that effect.

Animal encounters are all precious, in my view. I want a world where this kind of thing can occur in a hundred years time. I want to hear the argument that can oppose that!