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| (I have been out of town for the past 2 weeks, so posting has been non-existent.)
I am having difficulty wishing people a "happy" new year with everything that is going in in our world: A failing economy resulting in job losses, a housing market crash, budget shortfalls; A broken health care system that continues to prevent families from receiving adequate health care; War-ridden countries and recent escalation of conflict in Gaza; the continuation of planetary destruction with not only the effects of war, but also the sale of land for oil drilling, lack of adequate regulation for pollution generating machinery and equipment and practices, lack of appropriate measures to address global warming, the demise of local businesses due to increasing invasion of large corporate giants, to name a few.
There is so much negative occurring at this time that it is difficult to focus on the positive. Nonetheless, I have generated this list of positive things in my life:
I am thankful that I have a job with health benefits.
I am thankful that I have the skill and knowledge to be able to grow my own food and be self sustaining.
I am thankful that I have resources to help my children and grandchildren right now in the current economic crisis.
I am thankful that I can gain and share knowledge about world events and actually have the ability to do something about some things to effect change.
I am thankful that I am able to provide an education for a little girl in Ethiopia, my small postivie contribution to one life which otherwise is affected by negative circumstances.
I am thankful for my husband who is a constant daily source of friendship and inspiration in my life.
I am thankful for my family and friends here in Utah and across the country.
My hopes for the new year?
That I am able to maintain my health and attitude to continue to work on peace, justice and sustainability issues in my community and beyond.
That at least one person I know who isn't as convinced that big change needs to occur to improve our world will come to the realization that some of the things I mention here do need to be addressed and so they make changes towards that end for themselves and in their community.
That the new administration begins to make moves in the direction towards a more peace and just society and world without war.
That family and friends I know who are without jobs and health care will find improvements in those areas in their lives.
So "happy" new year with these things in mind. Peace on earth. Good will toward all life on our planet. | |
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| It's kind of creepy to see that retailers have the power to ration food.... http://www2.nysun.com/article/74994Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World By JOSH GERSTEIN Staff Reporter of the Sun April 21, 2008 MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks. At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy. "Where's the rice?" an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu, said. "You should be able to buy something like rice. This is ridiculous." The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four or five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants, but only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in stock. A 20-pound bag was selling for $15.99. "You can't eat this every day. It's too heavy," a health care executive from Palo Alto, Sharad Patel, grumbled as his son loaded two sacks of the Basmati into a shopping cart. "We only need one bag but I'm getting two in case a neighbor or a friend needs it," the elder man said. ( Read more... ) | |
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| I became a vegetarian about 6 years ago when I realized that by eating meat I was contributing to an industry that really kept people all over the world from being fed. The article from Common Dreams pasted below gives one even a lot more to think about regarding the consumption of meat: by Bruce Friedrich In 1987, I read Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé and — primarily for human rights and environmental reasons — went vegan. Two decades later, I still believe that — even leaving aside all the animal welfare issues — a vegan diet is the only reasonable diet for people in the developed world who care about the environment or global poverty. Over the past 20 years, the environmental argument against growing crops to be fed to animals — so that humans can eat the animals — has grown substantially. Just this past November, the environmental problems associated with eating chickens, pigs, and other animals were the subject of a 408-page United Nations scientific report titled Livestock’s Long Shadow. The U.N. report found that the meat industry contributes to “problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.” The report concludes that the meat industry is “one of the … most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” Eating Meat Is the No. 1 Consumer Cause of Global Warming Eating Meat Wastes Resources Think about the extra stages of production that are required to get dead chickens, pigs, or other animals from the farm to the table: - Grow more than 10 times as much corn, grain, and soy (with all the required tilling, irrigation, crop dusters, and so on), as would be required if we ate the plants directly.
- Transport — in gas-guzzling, pollution-spewing 18-wheelers — all that grain and soy to feed manufacturers.
- Operate the feed mill (again, using massive amounts of resources).
- Truck the feed to the factory farms.
- Operate the factory farms.
- Truck the animals many miles to slaughterhouses.
- Operate the slaughterhouses.
- Truck the meat to processing plants.
- Operate the meat processing plants.
- Truck the meat to grocery stores (in refrigerated trucks).
- Keep the meat in refrigerators or freezers at the stores.
Eating Meat Wastes and Pollutes Water Eating Meat Destroys the Rain Forest What About Eating Fish? Eating Meat Supports Cruelty What About Eating Meat That Isn’t From Factory-Farmed Animals? Conclusion The case against eating animal products is ironclad; it’s not a new argument, and it goes way beyond just global warming. Animals will not grow or produce flesh, milk, or eggs without food and water; they won’t do it without producing excrement; and the stages of meat, dairy, and egg production will always cause pollution and be resource-intensive. Bruce Friedrich is the vice president for campaigns at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). He has been a progressive and environmental activist for more than 20 years. | |
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| The Yes Men have been attacked. There's no hard proof that the attackers is EXXON - but make up your own mind: EXXON HACKS THE YES MEN Yes Men badly need sysadmin, server co-location Contact: mailto: people@theyesmen.org One day after the Yes Men made a joke announcement that ExxonMobil plans to turn billions of climate-change victims into a brand-new fuel called Vivoleum, the Yes Men's upstream internet service provider shut down Vivoleum.com, the Yes Men's spoof website, and cut off the Yes Men's email service, in reaction to a complaint whose source they will not identify. The provider, Broadview Networks, also made the Yes Men remove all mention of Exxon from TheYesMen.org before they'd restore the Yes Men's email service. The Yes Men assume the complainant was Exxon. "Since parody is protected under US law, Exxon must think that people seeing the site will think Vivoleum's a real Exxon product, not just a parody," said Yes Man Mike Bonanno. "Exxon's policies do already contribute to 150,000 climate-change related deaths each year," added Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum. "So maybe it really is credible. What a resource!" | |
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| This is a stunning act of direct action - Yessssss to the Yes Men!
-------------------------------------- Imposters posing as ExxonMobil and National Petroleum Council (NPC) representatives delivered an outrageous keynote speech to 300 oilmen at GO-EXPO, Canada's largest oil conference, held at Stampede Park in Calgary, Alberta, today. The speech was billed beforehand by the GO-EXPO organizers as the major highlight of this year's conference, which had 20,000 attendees. In it, the "NPC rep" was expected to deliver the long-awaited conclusions of a study commissioned by US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. The NPC is headed by former ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, who is also the chair of the study. (See link at end.) In the actual speech, the "NPC rep" announced that current U.S. and Canadian energy policies (notably the massive, carbon-intensive exploitation of Alberta's oil sands, and the development of liquid coal) are increasing the chances of huge global calamities. But he reassured the audience that in the worst case scenario, the oil industry could "keep fuel flowing" by transforming the billions of people who die into oil. "We need something like whales, but infinitely more abundant," said "NPC rep" "Shepard Wolff" (actually Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men), before describing the technology used to render human flesh into a new Exxon oil product called Vivoleum. 3-D animations of the process brought it to life.
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| Last night our radical cheerleading squad, Pom Poms Not Bomb Bombs performed at the Rocky Roast put on by the Salt Lake Acting Company. It was great fun and everyone loved us! I will be posting for photos later today or tomorrow, but here is a photo of us with Rocky (I am to Rocky's left!): | |
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| Yesterday's Global Warming rally was a success! It was beautiful weather, lots of great entertainment, outreach and networking. Our tables were busy all day! I wasn't able to get as many photos as I usually do, due to my tabling activities, but I did get quite a few (see below). The highlight was being able to see Los Lobos who came to Salt Lake to perform for the event. Local musicians Motherlode Canyon Band, Blue Haiku, Brenn Hill, Salty Rootz and the Salt Lake Alternative Jazz Band also performed.   ( Read more... ) | |
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| I will be participating in Salt Lake's Global Warming Rally on Saturday. I will be doing outreach for Blue Sky Institute. This event is being held as part of a nationwide campaign. Here is a schedule of events that day: FREE CONCERT! LOS LOBOS Please join Mayor Rocky Anderson and thousands of others this Saturday, April 14th at STEP IT UP Salt Lake City. STEP IT UP events will take place across the nation calling for Congress to pass legislation to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. Washington Square will be the site of great music including Los Lobos! There will also be food, exhibits, presentations, vendors, informational booths and even a children’s playground. Click HERE for a personal invitation from Mayor Rocky Anderson.  | |
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| It's hard to believe that this is COG #70! This week's host is Camden Kiwi. There is a lot of great reading over there - especially on climate change. Happy Reading! | |
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| “War is never an isolated act.”(Clausewitz, 1831) The effects of war are far more widespread than the average person considers.
 Eden in the Line of Fire By María Amparo Lasso * Ninety-three percent of the wetlands have disappeared in Mesopotamia, the great oasis of the Middle East. Now, war threatens to destroy what little remains. A recurring nightmare is troubling environmentalists worldwide: the firepower being used in the second Gulf War devastates what little is left of the wetlands of Mesopotamia, a place that many believe was the setting of the Bible’s Garden of Eden.
War is not a simple concept. War not only kills people, it is having devastating effects on our earth. The immediate death and destruction resulting from war often becomes forgotten as cities and territories are rebuilt. But the longterm consequences are even more frightening.
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deesings's journal
